Physician Investigator (Cl) Cancer Center, Mass General Research Institute

Giovanni Armenise - Harvard Professor of Neurology Harvard Medical School

Neurologist Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital

MD Tulane University School of Medicine 1998

PhD 1998

central nervous system neoplasms; neurilemmoma; neurofibromatoses; neurofibromatosis 1; neurofibromatosis 2; neuroma, acoustic; peripheral nervous system neoplasms; quinazolines

Our clinical research group is interested in characterizing the phenotype of patients with tumor suppressor syndromes such as neurofibromatosis (NF). We are performing whole-body MRI scans in patients to measure the distribution and volume of internal nerve sheath tumors in patients with NF1, NF2, and schwannomatosis. We are also using laser scanning techniques to measure the number and height of cutaneous tumors in subjects with NF1. The second clinical research interest is in developing new therapies for patients with NF. Thus, we are designing and executing clinical trials for these diseases using small molecule inhibitors of growth factor pathways. The final interest in our group is to understand the genetic basis for schwannomatosis, the third for of NF. We are studying blood and tumor specimens from these patients to determine the role of the NF2 and INI1 genes in tumor suppression.