Director, MGH Cancer Center Medicine-MGH Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital

Physician Medicine-MGH Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital

Kurt J. Isselbacher Professor of Oncology Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Associate Member Broad Institute

Investigator Howard Hughes Medical Institute

MD Stanford University School of Medicine 1983

PhD 1981

cancer genetics; carcinoma non-small-cell lung; circulating tumor cells; egfr; epithelial cancers; genes wilms tumor; microfluidics; neoplastic cells circulating; receptor epidermal growth factor; wilms tumor; wt1 proteins

The Haber laboratory focuses on understanding the fundamental genetics of human cancer, from inherited mutations that confer familial predisposition to genetic mutations that are acquired by tumors themselves and may render them susceptible to specific targeted drug therapies. For example, we have identified mutations in the EGFR gene that confer dramatic sensitivity of some lung cancers to drugs that inhibit that pathway, pointing toward the importance of genetic classification of common epithelial cancers in applying novel targeted therapies.

We have also collaborated with the bioengineering team led by Dr. Mehmet Toner, the molecular biology group of Dr. Shyamala Maheswaran, and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center clinical disease centers to develop, characterize and apply a microfluidic device capable of isolating rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the blood of patients with cancer. This new technology offers the promise of 1) noninvasive monitoring of cancers during their treatment for the emergence of drug resistance; 2) early detection of invasive cancers; and ultimately 3) understanding and preventing blood-borne spread of cancer.