Molecular Pharmacology Program

The Karuna Ganesh Lab

Research

Memorial Sloan Kettering medical oncologist Karuna Ganesh
Karuna Ganesh, MD, PhD
Assistant Member and Medical Oncologist

Metastasis causes >90% of cancer death.  The emergence, persistence, therapy resistance and lethality of metastatic cancer is driven by dynamic and tenacious metastasis stem cells (MetScs). The Ganesh lab focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the emergence of regenerative plasticity during metastasis.  We employ cutting edge patient-derived organoid and mouse models of colorectal cancer, transcriptomic, epigenomic and single cell approaches, and mechanistic studies to: (1) elucidate how tumor invasion and dissemination induce phenotypic plasticity enabling the emergence of pro-metastatic regenerative traits (2) dissect the role of stromal cells, including immune cells, in promoting and constraining MetSC plasticity (3) define key signaling nodes that drive MetSC plasticity and develop therapeutic strategies for targeting such vulnerabilities and (4) collaborate with clinicians to understand mechanisms of therapy resistance in metastasis.

VIDEO | 02:22
Go inside the lab of Karuna Ganesh and learn what organoids are, what we can learn from them, and the potential impact they have for cancer patients.
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Featured News

Dr. Karuna Ganesh and Elizabeth Benitez in the lab.
How a Better Understanding of Metastasis May Lead to Better Cancer Treatment
Metastasis is responsible for about 9 of every 10 cancer deaths, and it remains one of the most daunting and least understood aspects of the disease. Researchers across MSK are approaching a wide variety of metastatic cancer types from many directions.
immunofluorescence image of colorectal cancer cells
Unlocking the Secrets of Cancer Metastasis: MSK Study Provides New Insights, Potential Therapeutic Opportunities
Metastasis remains the primary challenge to reducing cancer deaths worldwide. A new MSK study is providing unique insights that researchers say point to new therapeutic opportunities.
Hear the latest research about what may be contributing to the alarming trend of young people getting cancer earlier in their lives than previous generations.
What's Causing Cancer Rates to Rise in Gen X and Millennials?
Hear the latest research about what may be contributing to the alarming trend of young people getting cancer earlier in their lives than previous generations.

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Publications Highlights

Moorman A, Benitez EK, Cambulli F, Jiang Q, Mahmoud A, Lumish M, Hartner S, Balkaran S, Bermeo J, Asawa S, Firat C, Saxena A, Wu F, Luthra A, Burdziak C, Xie Y, Sgambati V, Luckett K, Li Y, Yi Z, Masilionis I, Soares K, Pappou E, Yaeger R, Kingham TP, Jarnagin W, Paty PB, Weiser MR, Mazutis L, D’Angelica M, Shia J, Garcia-Aguilar J, Nawy T, Hollmann TJ, Chaligné R, Sanchez-Vega F, Sharma R, Pe’er D, Ganesh K. Progressive plasticity during colorectal cancer metastasis. Nature. 2025 Jan;637(8047):947-954. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-08150-0. Epub 2024 Oct 30. PMID: 39478232; PMCID: PMC11754107.

Gerstberger S, Jiang Q, Ganesh K. Metastasis. Cell. 2023 Apr 13;186(8):1564-1579. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.03.003. PMID: 37059065; PMCID: PMC10511214.

Ganesh K. Uncoupling Metastasis from Tumorigenesis. N Engl J Med. 2023 Feb 16;388(7):657-659. doi: 10.1056/NEJMcibr2213497. PMID: 36791168; PMCID: PMC10375401.

Ganesh K, Basnet H, Kaygusuz Y, Laughney AM, He L, Sharma R, O’Rourke KP, Reuter VP, Huang YH, Turkekul M, Er EE, Masilionis I, Manova-Todorova K, Weiser MR, Saltz LB, Garcia-Aguilar J, Koche R, Lowe SW, Pe’er D, Shia J, Massagué J. L1CAM defines the regenerative origin of metastasis-initiating cells in colorectal cancer. Nat Cancer. 2020 Jan;1(1):28-45. doi: 10.1038/s43018-019-0006-x. Epub 2020 Jan 13. Erratum in: Nat Cancer. 2020 Nov;1(11):1128. PMID: 32656539; PMCID: PMC7351134.

Ganesh K, Wu C, O’Rourke KP, Szeglin BC, Zheng Y, Sauvé CG, Adileh M, Wasserman I, Marco MR, Kim AS, Shady M, Sanchez-Vega F, Karthaus WR, Won HH, Choi SH, Pelossof R, Barlas A, Ntiamoah P, Pappou E, Elghouayel A, Strong JS, Chen CT, Harris JW, Weiser MR, Nash GM, Guillem JG, Wei IH, Kolesnick RN, Veeraraghavan H, Ortiz EJ, Petkovska I, Cercek A, Manova-Todorova KO, Saltz LB, Lavery JA, DeMatteo RP, Massagué J, Paty PB, Yaeger R, Chen X, Patil S, Clevers H, Berger MF, Lowe SW, Shia J, Romesser PB, Dow LE, Garcia-Aguilar J, Sawyers CL, Smith JJ. A rectal cancer organoid platform to study individual responses to chemoradiation. Nat Med. 2019 Oct;25(10):1607-1614. doi: 10.1038/s41591-019-0584-2. Epub 2019 Oct 7. PMID: 31591597; PMCID: PMC7385919.

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People

Memorial Sloan Kettering medical oncologist Karuna Ganesh

Karuna Ganesh, MD, PhD

Assistant Member and Medical Oncologist

  • Physician-scientist Karuna Ganesh studies stem cell plasticity in metastasis, therapy resistance and tissue regeneration.
  • MD, PhD, University of Cambridge (UK)
ganeshk@mskcc.org
Email Address
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Physician profile

Members

Ellie Benitez
Elizabeth "Ellie" Benitez
MD/PhD Student
Christopher Cowley
Research Scholar
Stefanie Gerstberger
Stefanie Gerstberger
Medical Oncology Fellow
Michael Giarrizzo
Michael Giarrizzo
Senior Research Technician
Maddie Gunnell
Administrative Assistant
Qingwen Jiang
Qingwen Jiang
Research Associate
Georgios
Georgios Karagkounis
Assistant Attending, Colorectal Service
Josh Lee
Jaeyop Lee
Medical Oncology Fellow
Kathleen Luckett
Kathleen Luckett
MD/PhD Student
Bernadette Mödl
Research Fellow
Swara Patel
Swara Patel
Research Technician
Jura Pintar
Computational Biologist
Manisha Raghavan
Manisha Raghavan
PhD Student/Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Andres Rettig
Postdoctoral Fellow
Asha
Asha Saxena
Clinical Research Project Associate
Christine Sukhwa
Christine Sukhwa
Research Technician
Jenny Xue
Clinical Fellow
Fabian Zincke
Research Technician
Simran Asawa
Simran Asawa
PhD student, ETH Zurich
Narmen Azazmeh
Narmen Azazmeh
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
Sasha Balkaran
Sasha Balkaran
MD student, SUNY Downstate Medical School
Francesco Cambuli
Francesco Cambuli
Research Fellow
Andre Chavez
Lab Manager
Emilie De Vet
Emilie De Vet
PhD student, Harvard-MIT HST Program
Laura Eibler
Graduate Student, Weill Cornell Pharmacology Program
Lucas Evans
Lab SKI Admin II
Chileshe Ferris
Chileshe Ferris
Administrative Assistant
Saskia Hartner
Saskia Hartner
PhD student, Daniela Quail lab, McGill University, Canada
Mel-Quann Hodge
Administrative Assistant
Josh Leinwand
Josh Leinwand
Surgical Oncology Fellow.  Assistant Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Melissa Lumish
Medical Oncology Fellow. Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Ahmed Mahmoud
Ahmed Mahmoud
Postdoctoral Research Scholar, MSKCC
Aileen Rodriguez
Aileen Rodriguez
PhD Student at Scripps University
Valeria Sgambati
Research Scientist at Frequency Therapeutics
Tamiika White
Tamiika White
Lab Assistant
Julia Zehenter
PhD student, Sabine Taschner-Mandl lab, St Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute

Achievements

  • V Foundation Translational Award (2024)
  • Metastasis Research Society Sue Eccles Early Career Investigator Award (2024)
  • HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar Finalist (2023)
  • Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Cancer Research (2022)
  • NIH/NCI R37 MERIT Award (2022)
  • HHMI Gilliam Scholar Award(Mahmoud/Ganesh) (2022)
  • AACR NextGen Award for Transformative Cancer Research (2020)
  • Phillip A. Sharp Innovation Award, Stand Up to Cancer (2022)
  • Josie Robertson Investigator (2019-2024)
  • Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award (2019)
  • Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists (2019)
  • NIH/NCI K08 Clinician Scientist Career Development Award (2018)
  • Investigator, Stand Up to Cancer Colorectal Cancer Dream Team (2017)
  • American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
  • Shulamit Katzman Endowed Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
  • Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award (2016)
  • AACR Basic Cancer Research Fellowship (2016)
  • MRC-LMB PhD Scholarship (2006)
  • Gates Cambridge Scholarship (2004)

Lab News & Events

Accolades

Team Recognitions

  • Manisha Raghavan, MS
    Bruce Charles Forbes Graduate Fellowship (2025)
  • Elizabeth Benitez, BS
    Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Fellowship for Predoctoral Dual-Degree Training Programs (2025)
  • Stefanie Gerstberger, MD, PhD
    AACR Women in Cancer Research Award (2025)
  • Jaeyop Lee, MD, PhD
    NIH/NCI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2025-2030)
  • Andres Rettig, MD
    DFG Walter Benjamin Fellowship (2024-2026)
  • Kathleen A. Luckett, BS,
    NIH F30 Individual Predoctoral Dual Degree Fellowship (2024-2028)
  • Stefanie Gerstberger, MD, PhD
    Hope Funds for Cancer Research Fellowship (2025-2028)
  • Kathleen Luckett, BS
    Experimental Immuno-Oncology Fellowship (2024-2026)
  • Jaeyop Lee, MD, PhD
    Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award (2024)
  • Elizabeth Benitez, BS
    Barbara and Stephen Friedman Predoctoral Fellowship (2024)
  • Emilie De Vet, BS
    Belgian American Educational Foundation Scholarship (2024-2025)
  • Georgios Karagkounis, MD
    Society of MSKCC Research Grant (2024-2025)
  • Stefanie Gerstberger, MD, PhD
    NIH T32 Investigational Cancer Therapeutics Training Program (2023-2025)
  • Christopher Cowley, PhD
    NIH/NCI F99/K00 Individual Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award (2023-2026)
  • Jaeyop Lee, MD, PhD
    NIH T32 Cancer Pharmacology Training Program (2023)
  • Manisha Raghavan, MS
    Geoffrey Beene Graduate Fellowship (2023)
  • Sasha Balkaran, BS
    Fulbright Fellowship Award for study in Spain (2022-2023)
  • Qingwen Jiang, PhD
    GMTEC Shulamit Katzman Endowed Fellowship (2022-2025)
  • Francesco Cambuli, PhD
    Chair, Gordon Research Symposium: Epithelial Stem Cells and Niches, Ventura, CA (2022)
  • Melissa Lumish, MD
    Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award (2022-2023)
  • Ahmed Mahmoud, PhD
    HHMI Gilliam Fellowship (2022-2025)
  • Melissa Lumish, MD
    AACR Scholar-In-Training Award (2021)
  • Melissa Lumish, MD
    Tow Center for Developmental Oncology Career Development Award (2021-2023)
  • Ahmed Mahmoud, PhD
    NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2019-2022)
  • Sasha Balkaran, BS
    McNulty Fellowship, Hunter College, CUNY (2019-2021)

Open Positions

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Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community 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. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders 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. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Karuna Ganesh discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Genentech
    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, 2024 through disclosure submission in spring 2025). 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 ecoi@mskcc.org.


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