SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES
Robert A. Weinberg, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Whitehead Institute
Landmark discoveries on signaling pathways in cancer
- Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, is the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a founding member
of the Whitehead Institute. His work and accomplishments include:
- Discovered the first human oncogene, Ras, and the first tumor suppressor gene
- Coauthored the seminal paper, “The Hallmarks of Cancer,” published in January 2000 in Cell, that identified the six requirements for one renegade cell to cause a deadly cancer; in 2011, published an updated review article entitled “Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation”
- Published the landmark research papers, “Mechanism of Activation of a Human Oncogene” and “Creation of Human Tumor Cells with Defined Genetic Elements,” both in the journal Nature
- Research focused on the interactions between epithelial and stromal cells (the two major types of cells found in mammalian tissue) that produce carcinomas and the processes by which cancer cells invade and metastasize
- Explored the mechanisms by which tumors reactivate transcription factors that control invasion and metastasis; if these transcription factors can be exploited, researchers might determine how primary tumor cells disseminate through the body and seed cancer cells
