Edith A. Pérez is a Puerto Rican hematologist-oncologist. She is the Serene M. and Frances C. Durling Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.^[1]

Perez was born and grew up in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Her mother was a teacher and librarian and her father owned a grocery store. ^[2] During her freshman year at University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, Perez's grandmother died. This motivated her to become a physician. In 1975, she graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Biology.^[3]

Perez completed her M.D. at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the Loma Linda University Medical Center.^[1] Perez conducted a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the Martinez VA Medical Center through the UC Davis School of Medicine.^[1]

In 2020, Perez joined Bolt Biotherapeutics as its chief medical officer.^{[4] [5]} Before joining Bolt, she was the vice president and head of the BioOncology-U.S. Medical Affairs unit at Genentech from 2015 to 2018, where she led the development and conduct of translational studies with registrational intent,^[jargon] including engaging in discussions with the FDA. She was a member of the Genentech/Roche Cancer Immunotherapy Governance Committee.

In 1995, Perez joined Mayo Clinic. She began as an assistant professor and was promoted to professor and then full professor of Medicine in 2001, an appointment she currently maintains. Perez was director of the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program and supplemental consultant in the Department of Hematology/Oncology and Cancer Biology.

Perez has also been involved in diversity leadership initiatives with ASCO and AACR, and is the chair of the Health Equity Committee for Stand Up to Cancer. She was elected as vice-chair for the Scientific Advisory Committee of Stand up to Cancer and as a member of the NASEM Committee on Improving the Representation of Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Clinical Trials and Research in 2021.

Perez has been principal investigator in the development and execution of clinical trials exploring the use of new therapeutic agents for the treatment and prevention of breast cancer.

In addition to her academic and biomedical industry pursuits, Perez co-founded the 26.2 National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer to raise funds for underserved women and genomics/immunologic translational cancer research. She runs it every year.^[6] More than 12,000 families have received assistance from the proceeds and more than $2.5M has been raised for cancer research.^[6]

While she was working at the Mayo Clinic, Perez was essential to the N9831 trial, which demonstrated the impact of adding trastuzumab to improve disease-free and overall survival for patients with early-stage HER-2 positive breast cancer. ^[7] The combination of chemotherapy and trastuzumab, as opposed to chemotherapy alone, improved the survival rate of patients by 33%, helping to save thousands of lives in the US and globally.^[8] During her time with Genentech, Perez was instrumental to the trial and launch of six cancer medications. ^[7]

• "Edith A. Perez, M.D. - Mayo Clinic Faculty Profiles - Mayo Clinic Research". Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Cancer Center Departments and Centers - Mayo Clinic Cancer Center - Mayo Clinic". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Alliance - Board of Directors". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Perez EA - PubMed – NCBI". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Breast Cancer Marathon". Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Mayo Clinic Oncologist and MD Anderson Researcher Named 2013 Susan G. Komen Brinker Awardees for Scientific Distinction - Susan G. Komen". September 11, 2013. Archived from the original on September 9, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Edith A. Perez, MD - Giants of Cancer Care". Archived from the original on October 29, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
• "Board of Directors". Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2015.