Professor

Oncology Department, School of Medicine
Director, Ludwig Center at Johns Hopkins University

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

Cancer is a leading cause of death and morbidity in the United States and this problem is expected to grow as our life expectancy increases. Our laboratory has focused on the genetics of human cancer with a particular emphasis on exploring how inherited and somatic mutations can improve the clinical management of cancer. We have identified over a dozen cancer driver genes and the hereditary basis of several cancer predisposition syndromes. We have also developed several novel technologies to facilitate our studies of cancer. In particular we have focused on the development of digital genomic methods for detecting trace levels of tumor DNA. Most recently, we have focused on applying the above advances to the early detection of cancer and cancer immunotherapy. 

Cancer Biology | Genetics, Genomics and Gene Regulation | Translational Research

Selected Publications

Pearlman AH, Hwang MS, Konig MF, Hsiue EH, Douglass J, DiNapoli SR, Mog BJ, Bettegowda C, Pardoll DM, Gabelli SB, Papadopoulos N, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Zhou S. Targeting public neoantigens for cancer immunotherapy. Nature Cancer, 2021.

Hwang MS, Mog BJ, Douglass J, Pearlman AH, Hsiue EH, Paul S, DiNapoli SR, Konig MF, Pardoll DM, Gabelli SB, Bettegowda C, Papadopoulos N, Vogelstein B, Zhou S, Kinzler KW. Targeting loss of heterozygosity for cancer-specific immunotherapy. PNAS, 2021.

Cohen JD, Douville C, Dudley JC, Mog BJ, Popoli M, Ptak J, Dobbyn L, Silliman N, Schaefer J, Tie J, Gibbs P, Tomasetti C, Papadopoulos N, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B. Detection of low-frequency DNA variants by targeted sequencing of the Watson and Crick strands. Nature Biotechnology, 2021.

Lennon AM, Buchanan AH, Kinde I, Warren A, Honushefsky A, Cohain AT, Ledbetter DH, Sanfilippo F, Sheridan K, Rosica D, Adonizio CS, Hwang HJ, Lahouel K, Cohen JD, Douville C, Patel AA, Hagmann LN, Rolston DD, Malani N, Zhou S, Bettegowda C, Diehl DL, Urban B, Still CD, Kann L, Woods JI, Salvati ZM, Vadakara J, Leeming R, Bhattacharya P, Walter C, Parker A, Lengauer C, Klein A, Tomasetti C, Fishman EK, Hruban RH, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Papadopoulos N. Feasibility of blood testing combined with PET-CT to screen for cancer and guide intervention. Science, 2020.

Vogelstein B, Papadopoulos N, Velculescu VE, Zhou S, Diaz LA Jr, Kinzler KW. Cancer genome landscapes. Science, 2013.

Learn More

NCBI Bibliography | Faculty Profile | Ludwig Cancer Research Profile