Cancer Biology
Thomas M. Roberts, PhD, Co-Chair
Charles D. Stiles, PhD, Co-Chair
Thomas Roberts, PhD
Charles D. Stiles, PhD
The Department of Cancer Biology is the home of basic science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. We attack fundamental problems in biology that lead to the problem of human cancer. Our discovery-oriented research has contributed in important ways to the conceptual framework that underlies a new generation of targeted therapies for cancer. Nevertheless, we believe that future progress will require the development of new approaches and technologies that lie at the core of basic research. Following are the central themes of research for the Cancer Biology faculty.
Cancer Genetics
Department faculty are resolving the biological functions of genes that, when perturbed, give rise to cancer. Much of our work is conducted with genetically accessible model organisms such as yeast, Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, zebrafish, and mice. Our overarching goal is to translate these experiments into the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Protein Structure and Early-Stage Drug Discovery
The proteins that control signal transduction and cell cycle progression are attractive targets for new cancer pharmaceuticals, as evidenced by the success of drugs such as Gleevec and Iressa. Cancer Biology faculty are using x-ray crystallography and leading-edge technology in mass spectroscopy to resolve the structures and modifications of these proteins. We can then parlay insights on protein structure and function into entry-level screens for new cancer therapeutics.
Systems Biology and Nanobiology
Cancer Biology faculty are using powerful new techniques in genetics and computational biology to map the genetic and protein networks that modulate cell behavior and applying this information in a predictive manner to identify new pathways for therapeutic intervention. We construct nanoscale objects and nanomechanical devices, based on DNA molecules, that we can use to interrogate and modulate the operation of cells. As the home of the Center for Cancer Systems Biology at DFCI, the department also provides access to high-throughput approaches.
Neurobiology
The most complicated system in all of biology is the human brain. As part of a Harvard-wide initiative on brain cancer, the Department of Cancer Biology has established a program on the genetics of brain development. Program faculty isolate and characterize the gene products that direct nerve axons toward their targets and that create neural networks for the perception of pain. Other program faculty are focusing on genes that direct the formation of the glial lineages in the brain. The outcomes of these studies will lead to new insights about treatments for brain cancer, one of the most deadly and untreatable forms of cancer.
Teaching the Next Generation of Scientists
As an important complement to our research activities, the Cancer Biology faculty are heavily involved in graduate education at Harvard Medical School and in the laboratory training of oncology fellows at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Graduate students from many Harvard-based graduate programs — including Biomedical and Biological Sciences, Biophysics, Virology, and Neurobiology — complete their doctoral theses in our laboratories. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows also participate in informal weekly seminars and the annual departmental retreat. Thomas Roberts, PhD, serves as the dean of Graduate Education at Harvard Medical School, while Charles Stiles, PhD, directs a Harvard-wide training grant in cancer biology from the National Cancer Institute. Pam Silver, PhD, is the director of the newly formed Harvard University-wide doctoral program in Systems Biology.
