Researcher Profile
Todd R. Golub, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Center/Program
Department
Area of Research
Genomic Approaches to Cancer
Contact Information
Todd R. Golub, MDDana-Farber Cancer Institute
44 Binney Street
Dana Building 640C
Boston, MA 02115
Office phone: (617) 632-4903
Fax: (617) 632-4850
E-mail: golub@broad.mit.edu
Preferred contact method: e-mail
Research
Our laboratory focuses on the genetic basis of cancer, with particular emphasis on the use of new genomic and computer science approaches to cancer diagnosis and cancer biology. Having pioneered the use of DNA microarrays, or "DNA chips," for cancer diagnosis, we are currently extending these techniques to gain insight into the molecular basis of lymphoma, lung cancer, prostate cancer, melanoma, brain tumors, and multiple myeloma. New efforts are using systematic functional genomic methods, including RNA interference (RNAi), to identify tumor suppressor genes and find potential "Achilles' heels" of cancer that might represent new therapeutic targets. Work is also under way to develop proteomic approaches to cancer cell characterization, including advanced mass spectrometry to identify activated kinases as well as proteins in blood samples that are diagnostic of cancer.
Another area of research is the development of computational methods capable of extracting biologically or clinically meaningful signatures from complex genomic data. In addition, we are exploring novel approaches to the integration of genomics and chemistry. For example, we have established high-throughput screening methods for screening chemical compounds on the basis of their ability to modulate a gene expression signature of interest - a method particularly useful when the critical protein targets of a biological process are not yet known. Using this approach, called gene expression-based high throughput screening (GE-HTS), we have identified compounds capable of inducing the differentiation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. One of these compounds has advanced to clinical trial in patients with relapsed AML.
Similar GE-HTS screening is in progress in models of androgen-dependent prostate cancer, neuroblastoma, Ewing sarcoma, sickle cell anemia, and embryonic stem cell differentiation.
Recent Awards
- Cornelius Rhoads Memorial Prize, American Association for Cancer Research, 2002
- Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation, American Philosophical Society, 2001
- Discover Magazine Inventor of the Year (Health Category), 2000
- Elected Member, Society for Pediatric Research, 1999
- Whitlock Prize in Hematopoiesis and Leukemia, 1997
- Career Award, Burroughs-Wellcome, 1995
Biography
Dr. Golub received his MD in 1989 from the University of Chicago. After completing subspecialty clinical and research training at Harvard Medical School, he joined DFCI, where he is the Charles A. Dana Investigator in Human Cancer Genetics. In 2002, he was appointed investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in recognition of his work in cancer genomics. He was recently named founding Director of the Cancer Program of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT focusing on genomic medicine.
Select Publications
- Du J, Widlund HR, Horstmann MA, Ramaswamy S, Ross K, Huber WE, Nishimura EK, Golub TR, Fisher DE. The critical role of CDK2 on melanoma growth and its transcriptional regulation by MITF in the melanocyte lineage: implications for melanoma therapy. Cancer Cell 2005;6:565-76.
- Sweet-Cordero A, Mukherjee S, Subramanian A, You H, Roix J, Ladd C, Golub TR, Jacks T. An oncogenic KRAS2 expression signature identified by cross-species gene-expression analysis. Nat Genet 2005;37:48-55.
- Stegmaier K, Ross KN, Colavito SA, O'Malley S, Stockwell BR, Golub TR. Gene expression-based high-throughput screening (GE-HTS) and application to leukemia differentiation. Nat Genet 2004;36:257-63.
