Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The Charles Sawyers Lab

Research

Dr. Charles Sawyers
Charles L. Sawyers, MD
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair in Human Oncology and Pathogenesis; Chair, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program

Dr. Sawyers is an HHMI Investigator searching for molecularly targeted approaches to treat cancer. He has identified cell signaling components critical to the growth of cancer cells in chronic myeloid leukemia, prostate and other cancers, resulting in the development of multiple FDA-approved inhibitors in clinical use today.

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The Charles Sawyers Lab

Publications Highlights

The neuroendocrine transition in prostate cancer is dynamic and dependent on ASCL1. Romero R, Chu T, González-Robles TJ, Smith P, Xie Y, Kaur H, Yoder S, Zhao H, Mao C, Kang W, Pulina MV, Lawrence KE, Gopalan A, Zaidi S, Yoo K, Choi J, Fan N, Gerstner O, Karthaus WR, DeStanchina E, Ruggles KV, Westcott PMK, Chaligné R, Pe’er D, Sawyers CL. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024 Apr 11:2024.04.09.588557. doi: 10.1101/2024.04.09.588557. PMID: 38645223 Free PMC article. Preprint.

Lineage plasticity in prostate cancer depends on JAK/STAT inflammatory signaling. Chan JM, Zaidi S, Love JR, Zhao JL, Setty M, Wadosky KM, Gopalan A, Choo ZN, Persad S, Choi J, LaClair J, Lawrence KE, Chaudhary O, Xu T, Masilionis I, Linkov I, Wang S, Lee C, Barlas A, Morris MJ, Mazutis L, Chaligne R, Chen Y, Goodrich DW, Karthaus WR, Pe’er D, Sawyers CL. Science. 2022 Sep 9;377(6611):1180-1191. doi: 10.1126/science.abn0478. Epub 2022 Aug 18. PMID: 35981096 Free PMC article.

Tumor Microenvironment-Derived NRG1 Promotes Antiandrogen Resistance in Prostate Cancer. Zhang Z, Karthaus WR, Lee YS, Gao VR, Wu C, Russo JW, Liu M, Mota JM, Abida W, Linton E, Lee E, Barnes SD, Chen HA, Mao N, Wongvipat J, Choi D, Chen X, Zhao H, Manova-Todorova K, de Stanchina E, Taplin ME, Balk SP, Rathkopf DE, Gopalan A, Carver BS, Mu P, Jiang X, Watson PA, Sawyers CL. Cancer Cell. 2020 Aug 10;38(2):279-296.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2020.06.005. Epub 2020 Jul 16. PMID: 32679108 Free PMC article.

Regenerative potential of prostate luminal cells revealed by single-cell analysis. Karthaus WR, Hofree M, Choi D, Linton EL, Turkekul M, Bejnood A, Carver B, Gopalan A, Abida W, Laudone V, Biton M, Chaudhary O, Xu T, Masilionis I, Manova K, Mazutis L, Pe’er D, Regev A, Sawyers CL. Science. 2020 May 1;368(6490):497-505. doi: 10.1126/science.aay0267. PMID: 32355025 Free PMC article.

FOXA1 mutations alter pioneering activity, differentiation and prostate cancer phenotypes. Adams EJ, Karthaus WR, Hoover E, Liu D, Gruet A, Zhang Z, Cho H, DiLoreto R, Chhangawala S, Liu Y, Watson PA, Davicioni E, Sboner A, Barbieri CE, Bose R, Leslie CS, Sawyers CL. Nature. 2019 Jul;571(7765):408-412. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1318-9. Epub 2019 Jun 26. PMID: 31243370 Free PMC article.

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People

Dr. Charles Sawyers

Charles L. Sawyers, MD

Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair in Human Oncology and Pathogenesis; Chair, Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program

  • Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program Chair Charles Sawyers develops molecularly targeted cancer therapy.
  • MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
[email protected]
Email Address
646-888-2138
Office Phone

Members

Wassim Abida, MD, PhD
Wassim Abida

Associate Member

Brett Carver, MD, PhD
Brett Carver

Associate Attending

Weiran Feng, Research Fellow
Weiran Feng

Research Fellow

Eric Bent

Fellow

Zhendong Cao
Zhendong Cao

Research Fellow

Teng Han
Teng Han

Research Fellow

Emmet Huang-Hobbs

Research Scholar

Daniel ( Henry) Kates

Research Technician

Harmanpreet Kaur

Research Technician

Zahra Khan

Research Technician

Matthew Lange

Research Technician

Jye Lawson
Jye Lawson

Assistant to Chairman

Young Sun Lee
Young Sun Lee

MD-PhD Candidate

Ninghui Mao, PhD
Ninghui Mao

Senior Research Assistant

Kyrie Pappas
Kyrie Pappas

Research Fellow

Rodrigo Romero
Rodrigo Romero

Research Fellow

Zhen Sun
Zhen Sun

Postdoctoral Fellow

Samir Zaidi
Samir Zaidi

Fellow

Lab Alumni
Philip Watson, PhD
Philip Watson

Assistant Lab Member

Minna Balbas
Minna Balbas

Senior Manager, Clinical Science, Loxo Oncology at Lilly, San Francisco, CA

Rohit Bose, MD, PhD
Rohit Bose

Research Fellow

Ling Cai
Fiona Chen, MD
Fiona Chen

Graduate Student

Daniel C. Danila, MD
Daniel C. Danila

Medical Oncology Fellow

Mike Evans
Mike Evans
Haley Hieronymus

Senior Research Scientist

Phil Iaquinta, PhD
Phil Iaquinta

Senior Research Scientist

Ping Mu, PhD
Ping Mu

Research Fellow

Rajmohan Murali

Senior Research Scientist

Allison Rainer
Emily Schenkein

Research Technician

Neel Shah
Neel Shah

Clinical Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA

Jackline Wanjala

Research Technician

Douglas Wheeler

MD/PhD Student

John Wongvipat, BS
John Wongvipat

Research Lab Manager

Kamlesh Yadav

Research Fellow

Zeda Zhang
Zeda Zhang

Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Dominique Abita
Dominique Abita

Assistant to the Chairman

Elizabeth Adams Whicher, PhD
Elizabeth Adams Whicher

Research Fellow

Aura Agudelo Rivera
Aura Agudelo Rivera

Research Technician

Zhen Cao
Zhen Cao

NE WGS Graduate Student

Danielle Choi
Danielle Choi

Senior Animal Husbandry Technician

Tara Guclu
Tara Guclu

Assistant to Chairman

Jennifer Harris

Fellow

Samuel Haywood
Samuel Haywood

Fellow

Elizabeth Hoover, BS
Elizabeth Hoover

Senior Research Technician

Taslima Ishmael, BS
Taslima Ishmael

Research Technician

Sarala Kal

Research Technician

Wouter Karthaus, PhD
Wouter Karthaus

Research Assistant

Justin Laclair
Justin Laclair

Research Technician

Kayla Lawrence, BS
Kayla Lawrence

Senior Research Technician

Eugine Lee, PhD
Eugine Lee

Research Fellow

Eliot Linton
Eliot Linton

Research Technician

Jillian Love
Jillian Love

Research Technician

Tejasveeta Nadkarni
Tejasveeta Nadkarni

Senior Research Technician

Kristina Navrazhina

NE WGS Graduate Student

Abbas Nazir
Abbas Nazir

NE WGS Student

Bin-Zhi Qian

Research Associate

Nazifa Salsabeel

Research Technician

J. Joshua Smith
J. Joshua Smith

Associate Member

Perianne Smith
Perianne Smith

Senior Research Technician

Patrick Sullivan, BS
Patrick Sullivan

Research Technician

Dr. Marie Will
Marie Will

Assistant Attending

David Wise, MD, PhD
David Wise

Research Fellow

Valerie Wouters

Graduate Research Assistant

Chao Wu
Chao Wu

Senior Research Scientist

Serina Young

MSKCC Bridge Program Scholar

Jimmy Zhao
Jimmy Zhao

Fellow

Andrew Kwon
Jennifer C. King
Mike Burgess
Trever Bivona
Mercedes Gorre
Kimberly Brown

Research Fellow

Derek Welsbie
Randy Chen
Caren Chapinki

Research Technician

Brian Skaggs
Elizabeth Wasmuth
Elizabeth Wasmuth

Assistant Professor, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX

Yu Chen, MD, PhD
Yu Chen
Ingo Mellinghoff, MD
Ingo Mellinghoff

Lab Head

Tweeny R. Kau
Nicola J. Clegg
Neil Shah
Betsy Katz
Alice Tam
George V. Thomas
John Nicoll
Jin Xu

Research Fellow

Tambudzai Shamu

Research Technician

Igor Vivanco, PhD
Igor Vivanco
Kate Ellwood-Yen
David H. Leung
Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • NCI Alfred G. Knudson Award in Cancer Genetics (2020)
  • STAT Biomedical Innovation Award (2019)
  • AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship and Award (2019)
  • The Scheele Award, Swedish Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2017)
  • American Cancer Society Medal of Honor (2017)
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  • BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015)
  • Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2013)
  • Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2013)
  • Science of Oncology Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2013)
  • Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award, American Society of Clinical Investigation (2011)
  • Member, National Academy of Sciences (2010)
  • Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2009)
  • Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, Lasker Foundation (2009)
  • Dorothy Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (2009)
  • Member, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (2008)
  • David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2005)

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Charles L. Sawyers discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Arsenal IO Canada Parent, Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • BeiGene, Ltd.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Blueprint Medicines
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Column Group
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Diaprost AB
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • Foghorn Therapeutics
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Housey Pharmaceutical
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • KSQ Therapeutics
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Nextech Venture, LTD
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Novartis
    Equity; Fiduciary Role / Position
  • Oric Pharmaceuticals
    Equity; Intellectual Property Rights; Professional Services and Activities
  • PMV Pharma
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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