Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD

Charles A. Dana Chair in Human Cancer Genetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Professor of Genetics and Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Director, Center for Cancer Genomics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Institute Member, Broad Institute of Harvard & MIT
American Cancer Society Research Professor
MD, Harvard Medical School, 1993
PhD, Harvard University, 1994
As a principal investigator and mentor, my goals are to catalyze new fields of cancer research, and to mentor a new generation of cancer researchers.
Our laboratory uses genomic approaches to discover the causes of cancer, with a focus on lung and colon cancers. We then apply these genomic findings to understand these cancers and to begin the path to new cancer treatments (genome-inspired discovery). Here are a few of the questions that we are now considering:
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What is the complete long-range structure of cancer genomes? How can we use long-read technologies to elucidate this structure? Example: our studies of enhancer duplications that activate oncogenes.
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How does germline variation influence somatic mutation in cancer? Example: variation in EGFR mutation frequency by ethnicity.
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What is the role of cancer-associated bacteria in modulating cancer phenotypes? Example: Fusobacteria in colorectal cancer.
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What is the function of hitherto uncharacterized mutated genes in lung cancer? Example: the CMTR2 tumor suppressor gene.
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What is the role of aneuploidy in cancer causation? Example: modeling aneuploidy using CRISPR methods.
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How does RNA modification impact cancer cell survival? Example: the role of ADAR1 in lung cancer cell survival.
“... Truth is not a colored bird to be chased among the rocks and captured by its tail, but a skeptical attitude towards life.” – Sinclair Lewis
Hannah Delaney
Administration Assistant
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
