Head of the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School

Head of the Department of Pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School

Professor of Pathology Harvard Medical School

Benjamin Castleman Professor of Pathology Harvard Medical School

Enterprise Chief, Pathology Massachusetts General Hospital

Pathologist Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital

MD Stony Brook Medicine 1985

astrocytoma; brain neoplasms; glioblastoma; glioma; molecular diagnostic techniques; oligodendroglioma; temozolomide

The Louis laboratory has investigated the molecular basis of malignant gliomas for the past approximately 30 years, with the long-term goal being to devise molecular diagnostic approaches to glioma classification and therapy. 

Initially, the group demonstrated alterations characteristic of specific glioma subtypes and grades and originally demonstrated that molecular genetic analysis could be used to define clinicopathologically relevant subsets of glioblastomas. The laboratory then showed that molecular genetic alterations are powerful predictors of chemotherapeutic response and survival in patients with anaplastic oligodendrogliomas; these findings have already led to clinical applications, with molecular testing for 1p and 19q status available worldwide.

Over the past nearly 15 years, Dr. Louis has led numerous international efforts in brain tumor classification, bringing molecular approaches to CNS tumor classification to a world stage, through chairing efforts at the World Health Organization, the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting, and the Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy (cIMPACT).