Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
The Joan Massagué Lab
Research
Joan Massagué, PhD
Director, Sloan Kettering Institute; Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair; Member, Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
We are interested in metastasis, the cause of 90% of cancer deaths. The lab investigates metastatic stem cells and their stromal niches. The role of immune regulatory and regenerative signals, particularly TGF-β, is of interest. General as well as organ-specific mediators of metastasis are under investigation. We are defining the phenotypic plasticity and evolution of metastatic cell populations from dormancy to outbreak, identifying drug targets, and enabling clinical trials to treat metastasis.
VIDEO | 02:08
Go inside the lab of Joan Massagué, Chief Scientific Officer and Director, Sloan Kettering Institute.
Video DetailsFeatured News
MSK Scientists Identify Potential New Strategy Against Metastasis
A team of scientists at the Sloan Kettering Institute has identified the STING cellular signaling pathway as a key player in keeping dormant cancer cells from progressing into aggressive tumors months, or even years, after they’ve escaped from a primary tumor.
In the Lab
What Does Cancer Metastasis Have to Do with Wound Healing? More than You Might Think
Scientists are learning that — in a literal sense — metastasis is wound healing gone wrong.
Feature
An Old Protein Gets a New Look: Researchers Target TGF-ß to Make Immunotherapy More Effective
Drugs that block the action of TGF-ß may make checkpoint inhibitors more effective.
People
Joan Massagué, PhD
Director, Sloan Kettering Institute; Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair; Member, Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
- Joan Massagué studies the control of stem cell growth and phenotype in tumor progression, metastasis, and response to therapy.
- PhD, University of Barcelona
- massaguj@mskcc.org
- Email Address
- 646-888-2044
- Office Phone
Members
Senior Research Assistant
Sr. Research Scientist
Sr. Administrative Assistant
Research Associate
Research Associate
Research Scholar
Sr. Research Technician
Sr. Research Scientist
Research Associate
Sr. Executive Assistant
Sr. Research Scientist
Research Associate
Tri-I PhD, CBM, Graduate Student
Medical Student Mount Sinai, New York
Assistant Professor, Tsinghua University, School of Medicine, Beijing, China
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Chicago
Assistant Member, Molecular Pharmacology Program, SKI; Medical Oncologist, Department of Medicine
Medical Student, Stanford, CA
Assistant Professor, Peking University
Rheumatology Fellow, USCF Health
Postdoctoral Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN
Senior Research Assistant
Sr. Group Leader, Accutar Biotech
Assistant Professor, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou
Assistant Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
US Director of Medical Affairs, Precision Medicine, Merck & Co.
Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology (in the Institute for Cancer Genetics) Avon Products Foundation Assistant Professor of Breast Cancer Research, Columbia University
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology, Yale School of Medicine
Supervisory Patent Examiner, US Patent & Trademark Office
Director of Preclinal Research, Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology, BCN
Chair, Biochemistry, University of Toronto
Professor, Veterinary Clinical Biochemistry, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Graduate Student - Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Associate Professor, SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Associate Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Assistant Professor, Pathology, Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University
Professor, Dermatology & Pathology, Yale School of Medicine
Associate Professor, Dine College, Tsaile, AZ
Technology Transfer Office, MSKCC, New York
Senior Principal Scientist-Biology, Pfizer, New York
EVP, Director of Medical and Scientific Affairs at DDB Health, New York
Professor, University of Toronta
Senior Director, ArQule Inc., Woburn, MA
Assistant Professor, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Assistant Professor, Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program, Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, The Wistar Institute, PA
Professor, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
Associate Professor, Medicine; Yale University; Medical Director, New Milford Cancer Center
Staff Scientist, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY
Associate Professor, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Self-Employed, Consultant in Immuno-oncology
Research Scholar
Director, Immunology Trans.Sciences, Janssen, New York
Member, Pediatric Oncology & Hematology, Columbia University
Group Leader, Institut de Recerca Biomedica, Barcelona
Senior Clinical Research Associate at Veracyte, Inc.
Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology, U. North Carolina Lineberger Cancer Ctr.
Professor & Associate Director, Cardiovascular Research Institute, UCSF
Chief Scientific Officer, Accutar Biotech, New York
Professor, Biochemistry, U. Turku, Finland
Professor, Pathology and Neurology, Columbia University, NY
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Scientist II, Biology at BluePrint Medicines
Executive Vice President and Head of Biology, LifeMine, Cambridge, MA
Principal Investigator, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
Scientist @ Pfizer
Professor, Molecular Biology, Princeton University
Assistant Professor, Keio University, Japan
Associate Professor, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, KAIST, Korea
Head of Intellectual Property, Molecular Partners AG; Switzerland
Director, Division Molecular Radiation Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Graduate Student @ Columbia University
Assistant Professor, Physiology and Biophysics, Cornell University
Patent Attorney, Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research, Boston
Research Technician
Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Research Scholar
Associate Professor, Center for Advanced Biotechnology & Medicine, Rutgers Cancer Institute, NJ
Director, Melanoma Clinic Dermatology, University of California, LA
Professor, Instituto de Fisiologia Cellular, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oviedo, Spain
Senior Medical Director at AbbVie, Chicago
Student, St. Joseph's Seminary, Washington, DC
Assistant Professor of Pathology, UT Southwestern Med, Dallas
SVP, Medical & Scientific Services at Chameleon Communications International, New York
Medical Oncologist, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
Associate Professor, Pathology & Medical Oncology, Yale University
Group Leader, Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria
Senior Executive Officer, Digital Transformation, Daiichi Sankyo, Tokyo
Member, Department of Molecular Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, Florida
Gastroenterologist, Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles
Investigator, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Salamanca
Professor, Cancer Biology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, NC
GSK, Graduate Student
Professor, Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University
Research Director, CNRS and Institute Curie, Paris
Senior Director, Drug and Diagnostic Development, Navidea, Columbus, OH
Principal Investigator, Landspitali University Hospital; University of Iceland
Professor, Molecular Cancer Research, Lund University, Sweden
Professor, University of Dundee, UK
Research Director, Vall Hebron Institute of Oncology, Barcelona
The Jackson Laboratory, CT
Creacion Ventures, Cambridge, MA
Associate Professor, Biochemistry & Medicine, McGill University
Research Assistant
Partner at Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP
Professor, Rockefeller University, New York
Professor, CIB, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Madrid
Founder at Synthis LLC, LaunchLabs at Alexandria Center, New York
Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Duke University, NC
Group Leader, CNIO, National Cancer Research Center, Madrid, Spain
Group Leader, Translational Cancer Medicine Program, University of Helsinki, Finland
Professor, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute, University of Barcelona
Professor, Universite de Caen, France
Staff Scientist, Hoffman-La Roche, Inc.
Genetic Counselor, Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Australia
Head, Bi-Institutional Antibody & Bioresource Core Facility, MSKCC
Associate Professor, Medicine, University of Vienna, Austria
Professor, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia
Senior Investigator, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, U. Toronto
Associate Professor, Tsinghua University, School of Life Sciences, Beijing, China
Senior Director, Translational Research, Ikena Oncology, Cambridge, MA
Chief Editor, Nature Cancer @ Nature Publishing
Member, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion, Mexico
Professor, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston
Assistant Professor, Westlake University, China
Achievements
- Chief Scientific Officer, MSKCC (2023–2025)
- Director, Sloan Kettering Institute (2014–)
- HHMI Scientific Review Board (2014–2025)
- HHMI Investigator (1990-2013)
- Fellow, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy (2016)
- Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research (2016)
- Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research (2015)
- National Prize for Research in Biology, Spain (2014)
- American Italian Cancer Foundation Price (2013)
- Prize in Cancer Research, Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation (2011)
- Frontiers Prize in Biomedicine, BBVA Foundation (2008)
- Vilcek Prize, Vilcek Foundation (2006)
- Member, Institute of Medicine (2006)
- Award in Science and Technology, Prince Asturius Foundation (2004)
- Member, National Academy of Sciences (2000)
- Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)
- Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1990)
- Elucidation of the TGF-beta pathway
