Member, Whitehead Institute
Professor of Biology, MIT
A Founding Member of Whitehead Institute, Robert A. Weinberg is a pioneer in cancer research most widely known for his discoveries of the first human oncogene—a gene that causes normal cells to form tumors—and the first tumor suppressor gene.
His lab now primarily focuses on two areas: the interactions between epithelial and stromal cells (the two major types of cells found in mammalian tissue) that produce carcinomas and the processes by which cancer cells invade and metastasize.
Epithelial and stromal cells. Many mammalian tissues are formed from distinct epithelial and stromal cell layers. Often, a tumor that forms in an epithelial tissue layer must recruit stromal cells in order to become a carcinoma. Weinberg’s lab is exploring the molecular process by which this recruitment occurs. In addition, his lab has been investigating a signaling pathway operating within epithelial cells that enables them to release signals that stimulate blood vessel growth in nearby stromal cells.
Invasion and metastasis. Weinberg’s lab is focusing on a small group of transcription factors—proteins that control gene expression. These proteins, which are typically involved in embryogenesis, may contribute to cancer cells’ ability to disseminate to distant sites in the body where they may form metastases. Weinberg and his team are examining mechanisms by which tumors can reactivate the properties of these proteins that are active during embryonic development and exploit these transcription factors to execute various steps of the “invasion-metastasis” cascade—the sequence of steps that enables primary tumor cells to disseminate through the body and seed cancer cells. Additionally, the scientists are studying the role of cancer stem cells—the self-renewing, tumor-seeding cells that have been found in a number of solid tumors in the past few years. In 2008, Weinberg lab investigators reported a finding that brings together these two research themes: cancer cells induced to follow one of these embryonic pathways gain many of the properties of adult stem cells.
Weinberg, who received his PhD in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969, has held research positions at the Weizmann Institute and the Salk Institute. In 1982, Weinberg helped found Whitehead Institute, joined the faculty as a professor of biology at MIT, and published his landmark paper "Mechanism of Activation of a Human Oncogene" in the journal Nature. In 1999, another major paper, "Creation of Human Tumor Cells with Defined Genetic Elements," was also published in Nature.
- Identified and characterized both the first oncogene and the first tumor suppressor gene
- Demonstrated how certain gene regulators, or transcription factors, contribute to cancer metastasis
- "Scientist of the Year" by Discover magazine (1982)
- Bristol-Myers Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research (1984)
- Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
- National Medal of Science (1997)
- Wolf Prize in Medicine (2004)
- Landon-AACR Prize for Cancer Research (2006)
- Otto Warburg Medal (2007)