Warshaw Institute Research

The Warshaw Institute develops innovative diagnostic and treatment options for pancreatic cancer.

Our researchers study the biological pathways by which this aggressive cancer develops. They apply their knowledge of pancreatic cancer biology to develop “smart drugs” for each cancer mutation, as well as more sensitive screening tests.

Basic Research

Pancreatic Biology Laboratory

The Pancreatic Biology Laboratory is the clinical and basic research subdivision of the Pancreatic Surgery Group at Mass General. Since its founding by Dr. Warshaw in 1972, the Lab has published 86 peer-reviewed original papers in such journals as Nature, PNAS, and Gastroenterology, 18 reviews, more than three hundred abstracts, and seven book chapters. The focus of the basic and translational laboratory efforts is the molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression, and maintenance of pancreatic disease and cancer, specifically the contribution of developmental genes. The laboratory also runs a robust clinical research program designed to evaluate the management and care of patients with pancreatic cancer and premalignant cystic lesions.

• Andrew Liss, PhD - Lab Director
• Carlos Fernandez-del Castillo, MD - Senior Principal Investigator
• Andrew L. Warshaw, MD - Senior Principal Investigator

Genetics Models Laboratory

The Genetic Models Laboratory focuses on understanding the genetic program for PDAC initiation and progression. We have generated a series of genetically engineered mouse models and primary pancreatic cell culture systems for these studies. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is among the most lethal of human cancers. Although a recurrent set of gene mutations has been identified in this cancer type, this information has not translated into significant improvements in patient outcome. Our laboratory focuses on understanding the genetic program for PDAC initiation and progression. We have generated a series of genetically engineered mouse models and primary pancreatic cell culture systems for these studies.

• Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD - Principal Investigator

Clinical Research

Gastrointestinal Cancers Clinical Research

The Tucker Gosnell Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers is the first center of excellence in the Harvard system that focuses on integrated multidisciplinary care and research for hepatic and biliary malignancies.

Proton beam therapy

The characteristics of Proton beam therapy enable physicians to deliver higher, more conformed doses to tumor volume while almost completely sparing normal healthy tissue.

• About proton beam therapy

Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT)

Locally advanced pancreatic cancer has been generally deemed incurable, as surgical resection has proven the only curative option. While the primary reason for lack of long term survivors is distant metastases, another reason is that current doses of external beam radiation are inadequate to completely sterilize these large, radiation-resistant tumors. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) allows for delivering a high dose of radiation to the tumor under direct visualization. Our IORT program, started in 1978, was the first to show that long term survival was possible with out surgical resection. We currently use a dedicated linear accelerator within the operating room which produces high energy electrons. IORT is frequently performed in conjunction with either a gastrojejunostomy, hepaticojejunostomy, or both. Ongoing research efforts have included optimizing the integration of IORT as a method of dose escalation to the tumor in the context of a multi-agent chemotherapy program to further reduce the risk of distant metastases. Additionally, we seek to further characterize predictors of long term survivors evaluating not just disease characteristics but also treatment characteristics.

Clinical Trials

The Cancer Center offers patients access to a wide variety of clinical trials of promising new therapies. Learn more.

Warshaw Institute Scholars

2023 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Hiroyuki Kato, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Identifying vulnerabilities in GNAS-mutant tumors for pancreatic cancer prevention
• Kelsey Lau-Min, MD, MSCE
  Project Title: PDAC-PATHWAYS: A Multicomponent Mobile App to Address the Informational and Supportive Care Needs of Patients Who Are Surgical Candidates for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
• Eunae You, PhD
  Project Title: Understanding the Role of Repeat RNAs on Pancreatic Cancer Cellular Plasticity

2022 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Alejandro Bertolet Reina, PhD
  Project Title: Radiobiological modeling of alpha-particle radiopharmaceutical therapy for pancreatic adenocarcinoma
• Cristina Ferrone, MD
  Project Title: Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cell-Based Immunotherapy to Eradicate Micro-metastatic Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)
• Dan Duda, DMD, PhD
  Project Title: Establishing the Role of MET as a Predictive Biomarker and Target for Sensitization to FOLFIRINOX in Early Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

2021 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Nima Saeidi, PhD
  Project Title: Mechanisms underlying the therapeutic benefits of bariatric surgery for PDAC
• Henning Willers, MD
  Project Title: High-Throughput Screening of 3D PDAC Models with Novel Combination Therapies
• Lee Zou, PhD
  Project Title: Understanding and Overcoming the PARP Inhibitor Resistance of Pancreatic Cancer

2020 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Louisa Bolm, MD & Andy Liss, PhD
  Project Title: Characterizing Response to Stroma-targeting Therapies in heterogeneous stromal Subtypes of pancreatic Cancer PDX Models
• Nir Hacohen, PhD
  Project Title: Systematic dissection of the immune microenvironment of metastatic PDAC after radiation and immune checkpoint blockade
• William L. Hwang, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Dissecting Tumor-Nerve Crosstalk in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma with Gene Activation Screens

2019 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Yasmin Hernandez-Barco, MD
  Project Title: The Role of the GNAS Oncogene in the Immune Microenvironment of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm and Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
• Motaz Qadan, MD
  Project Title: Pilot Study of a Multimodal Prehabilitation Pancreatic Cancer Program

2018 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Cyril Benes, PhD
  Project Title: Discovery of Drug Combinations Effective Against PDAC in PDX Derived Models
• Rebecca Porter, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Differential Effect of Vitamin D Receptor Activation in Pancreatic Cancer Subtypes
• Paul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
  Project Title: The Deacetylase SIRT6 is a tumor suppressor that protects against aggressive pancreatic cancer

2017 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Andrew Liss, PhD
  Project Title: Bioengineered Systems To Interrogate Communication Between Pdac Cells And Cancer Associated Fibroblasts
• Cristina Ferrone, MD
  Project Title: Unraveling the effects of FOLFIRINOX in patients with Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
• Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
  Project Title: The Deacetylase SIRT6 is a tumor suppressor that protects against aggressive pancreatic cancer
• Yves Boucher, PhD
  Project Title: Reprogramming The Immune Microenvironment In Pdac To Improve Therapy

2016 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Katherine Yang, MD
  Project Title: Molecular analysis of serum exosomes for PDAC detection
• David T. Ting, MD
  Project Title: Understanding the Heterogeneous Response of Pancreatic Cancer to Stroma
• Krushna Patra, PhD
  Project Title: Functional roles of genetic mutations of IPMN and progression to invasive cancer - Additional funding awarded for significant progress

2015 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Zhi Ven Fong, MD
  Project Title: Utilizing Patient-Centered Outcomes to Guide Informed Decision Making in Major Pancreatectomy: Long-term Functional Outcomes and Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Pancreaticoduodenectomy
• Krushna C. Patra, PhD
  Project Title: Functional roles of genetic mutations of IPMN and progression to invasive cancer
• Dai Fukumura, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Role Of Obesity In Pancreatic Cancer Progression
• Soldano Ferrone, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Novel CAR T cell-based immunotherapeutic approach to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
• Dan G. Duda, DMD, PhD
  Project Title: Specific roles of KRASG12D versus KRASG12R in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression and resistance to cytotoxics - Additional funding awarded for significant progress

2014 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Rushika M. Perera, PhD
  Project Title: Transcriptional control of the autophagy-lysosome system drives amino acid metabolism in pancreatic cancer
• Dan G. Duda, DMD, PhD
  Project Title: Specific roles of KRASG12D versus KRASG12R in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression and resistance to cytotoxics
• David Ting, MD
  Project Title: Role of Cancer Fibroblasts in Pancreatic Cancer Progression
• Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
  Project Title: The Histone Deaceylase SIRT6 Modulates Pancreatic Cancer Metabolism - Additional funding awarded for significant progress

2013 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• David T. Ting, MD
  Project Title: Single Cell RNA-sequencing of Pancreatic Circulating Tumor Cells
• Raul Mostoslavsky, MD, PhD
  Project Title: The Histone Deacetylase SIRT6 modulates pancreatic cancer metabolism
• Andrew S. Liss, PhD
  Project Title: Functional Screen for Epigenetic Regulators Involved in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
• Bryan Fuchs, PhD
  Project Title: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition as a prognostic factor for survival and chemosensitivity in pancreatic adenocarcinoma

2012 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• David T. Ting, MD
  Project Title: Significance of Satellite Expression in Pancreatic Cancer
• Christina Ferrone, MD, and Bryan Fuchs, PhD
  Project Title: Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition as a prognostic factor for survival and chemosensitivity in pancreatic adenocarcinoma
• Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD
  Project Title: Targeting master regulators of metabolic reprogramming in PDAC

2011 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• David T. Ting, MD
  Project Title: Satellite Expression as a Novel Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker
• Andrew Liss, PhD
  Project Title: Functional Screen for Epigenetic Regulators Involved in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
• Jennifer Wargo, MD
  Project Title: Immunotherapeutic and Epigenetic Approaches Targeting the MAGE antigen in the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer
• Theodore S. Hong, MD
  Project Title: FDG PET as a biomarker of autophagy inhibition with hydroxychloroquine in pancreatic cancer

2010 Warshaw Institute Scholars

• Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD
  Project Title: Integrative Biology Approach to Dissect the Role of Epigenetic Regulators in Pancreatic Cancer
• Peter Caravan, PhD
  Project Title: Molecular MR Imaging of the Desmoplastic Response in Pancreatic Cancer
  
• Kevin Haigis, PhD
  Project Title: SIRT2 Regulates the Oncogenicity of Mutant K-RAS
• Sarah Thayer, MD, PhD
  Project Title: Genetic Mapping and Cloning of a Novel Pancreatic Cancer Gene
• David  T. Ting, MD
  Project Title: Gene Expression Profiling of Pancreatic Circulating Tumor Cells
• Omer Yilmaz, MD, PhD
  Project Title: In Vivo Characterization of Olfactomedin-4 as a Potential Marker for Pancreatic Progenitor Cells and Its Prognostic Implications in Pancreatic Cancers

Projects Funded by the Warshaw Institute

Integrative Biology Approach to Dissect the Role of Epigenetic Regulators in Pancreatic Cancer

Molecular MR Imaging of the Desmoplastic Response in Pancreatic Cancer

SIRT2 Regulates the Oncogenicity of Mutant K-RAS

Genetic Mapping and Cloning of a Novel Pancreatic Cancer Gene

Gene Expression Profiling of Pancreatic Circulating Tumor Cells

In Vivo Characterization of Olfactomedin-4 as a Potential Marker for Pancreatic Progenitor Cells and Its Prognostic Implications in Pancreatic Cancers

Funding Opportunities

Applications are being accepted for pancreatic cancer research.