Edwin L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology

The goal of their research is to further mechanistic understanding of vascular, interstitial and cellular barriers to the delivery and effectiveness of molecular medicine in solid tumors. Our aim is to develop and test new strategies to overcome the physiological barriers for improved detection and treatment of primary and metastatic tumors. Our mission is to translate these strategies from bench to bedside.

The Steele Laboratory was founded in 1975 by Herman D. Suit, MD, PhD, then Chief of Radiation Oncology. In 1991, Dr. Suit invited Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, from Carnegie Mellon University to serve as Director of the laboratory, to become the Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Tumor Biology, and to establish a program in tumor pathophysiology.

Today the Steele Laboratory is regarded as a world leader in quantitative tumor pathophysiology and is recognized widely for the discovery that antiangiogenic therapies can "normalize" tumor vessels, thus improve oxygenation, drug delivery and treatment efficacy in animal models and cancer patients. This novel concept explains how Avastin®  - the first FDA approved antiangiogenic drug works in patients and has spawned a number of clinical trials at Massachusetts General Hospital and elsewhere. Our ongoing and planned preclinical and clinical studies are designed to develop new strategies to extend the window of normalization and to identify molecular and cellular biomarkers for optimizing the use of targeted therapies in cancer patients.

The hallmarks of the laboratory include a unique multidisciplinary approach to tumor biology and a tight integration between bench and bedside which are supported by three scientific cores: the Bioengineering and Microscopy core, the Molecular, Cellular and Histology core, and the Animal and Surgery core. The staff of approximately 60 people includes one full professor, three associate professors, four assistant professors, two instructors, seven Harvard-MIT doctoral students, 16 post-doctoral fellows, 14 technicians and four support staff.

The laboratory is primarily supported by grants from the NIH, including a Program Project Grant (Integrative Pathophysiology of Tumors), a Bioengineering Research Partnership Grant (Integrative Biology of Metastasis), and a Training Grant (Tumor Pathophysiology). The philosophy of the laboratory is to seek and welcome collaborations with physicians and scientists in the Harvard-MIT community and worldwide.

For more information, please visit our Web site at http://steele.mgh.harvard.edu.

DIRECTOR

Rakesh Jain, PhD
A.W. Cook Professor of Tumor Biology, Harvard Medical School

ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS

Yves Boucher, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School

Dan Duda, DMD, PhD
Director of Translational Research in GI Radiation Oncology

Dai Fukumura, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology

Lance Munn, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology

Timothy Padera, PhD
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology

ASSISTANT PROFESSORS

Igor Garkavtsev, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology

Peigen Huang, MD, MS
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology

Lei Xu, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology

POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS

Zoreh Amoozgar, PhD | Jain Lab

Patrik Andersson, PhD | Fukumura Lab

Shuichi Aoki, MD, PhD | Duda Lab

Suboj Babykutty, PhD | Fukumura Lab

Sampurna Chatterjee, PhD | Jain Lab

Jie Chen, MD

Igor dos Santos | Fukumura Lab

Gino Ferraro, PhD | Jain Lab

Mitrat Gosh, PhD | Jain Lab

Dennis Jones, PhD | Padera Lab

Keehoon Jung, PhD | Jain Lab

Kosuke Kawagchi, MD | Fukumura Lab

Hiroto Kikuchi | Duda Lab

Sergey Kozin, PhD | Research Associate

Shanmugarajan Krishnan, PhD | Jain Lab

Ashwin Kumar | Jain Lab

Wilhelmus Kwanten, MD, PhD | Jain Lab

Huabing Li, PhD | Munn Lab

Nir Maimon, PhD | Munn Lab

Aya Matsui, PhD | Duda Lab

Mei Rosa Ng, PhD | Jain Lab

Takashi Nojiri | Fukumura Lab

Ethel Pereira, PhD | Padera Lab

Jessica Posada | Jain Lab

Jun Ren | Jain Lab

Kangsan Roh | Padera Lab

Kohei Shigeta, MD, PhD | Duda Lab

Yao Sun | Xu Lab

Hadi Tavakoli Nia, PhD

Rong Wang

Nancy Wang, MD

Limeng Wu

Yanling Zhang, MD

GRADUATE STUDENTS

Ivy Chen, PhD
Maneel Datta, PhD
William Ho
Hao Liu, MD
Michelle Wu

SENIOR TECHNOLOGISTS

Mark Duquette
Julia Kahn, BS
Sylvie Roberge, MS
Carolyn Smith, MMu

RESEARCH TECHNICIANS/TECHNOLOGISTS
Tsion Hbatmu, BS
Anna Khachatryan, MS | Research Technologist

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Zeina Chaptini | Jain Lab
Elizabeth Garzon | Jain Lab

• To learn more about our research projects, please visit our website

• Please visit the Steele lab website for updated publications