SELF EXAM:

DONATE

Occupation: I am the head of a department at MSKCC full of scientists investigating how cancers grow. As a cancer researcher I want to know why and how tumors spread to vital organs, and how we could prevent that from happening

Alternative career choice: seriously considered becoming a carpenter or a wood sculptor. I love working creatively with my hands and the noble smell of wood is something that I find especially alluring.

What do rock stars and scienctists have in common: Creativity, passion for what they do, striving for improving yesterday's accomplishment, and not being afraid of taking risks trying new things, pushing new concepts and ideas.

I tend to approach life: through freedom

Biggest misconceptions about me or my work: Some people stereotype scientists as sinister folks with dark desings or, at the other end of the range, goofy characters with crazy hair. Too many movies and too much of that Einstein poster. About my own field, people when is cancer going to be cured, when, in reality, half of all cancers are being cured today.

Worst part-time job ever: n/a

Longest med school study session: As a PhD student at the University of Barcelona I had to spend some nights until 3 AM in a cold-room waiting for a cell culture extract to flow through a filtering column. This in Barcelona - can you imagine? It barely left any time for some late tapas!

Best moment in medicine/research: In research that would be the eureka moment, of course. It happens once in a blue moon but when it does, oh boy, it erases any memory of past frustrations.

ABOUT MY RESEARCH:

Disease Area: My research is on cancer biology and genetics.

Research Area: I study how tumors spread to form metastasis in other organs.

Science Impact/Accomplishments or Goal: Dr. Joan Massagué identified the TGFß receptors, their mechanism of activation, and the Smad proteins as receptor substrates and transcriptional activators, thereby establishing the central concept of how this pathway operates. An end result of this process is the inhibition of cell division through novel CDK inhibitors that he co-discovered. His work provided a direct explanation for how external signals from the cell membrane to the nucleus block mammalian cell division. These mechanisms are now known to be crucial in embryonic development, and their disruption causes congenital disorders and cancer. Dr. Massagué has identified genes, expression signatures, and miRNAs involved in the metastatic process. He has mentored and trained approximately 70 postdoctoral fellows and 12 graduate students in areas ranging from signal transduction to cancer models and experimental metastasis.

Research Description: We are interested in how growth factors, signaling pathways, and gene expression programs control normal cell proliferation and cancer cell metastasis. The development and maintenance of multicellular organisms requires tight control over the proliferation, differentiation, movement, organization and death of their constituent cells. Intricate molecular communication networks have evolved to control these processes. Our work is focusing on how cells receive, read and relay such signals, and how disruptions in these processes lead to tumor formation and cancer metastasis. We are approaching these questions through the rich venue provided by the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFß) pathway, as well as through the direct identification of metastasis genes and functions.

Videos courtesy of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Please visit the MSKCC YouTube Channel