Robert A. Weinberg

About

Robert A. Weinberg is the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research and a Core Member at the Whitehead Institute. His research focuses on understanding how cancer spreads, the molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of cancer stem cells, and the processes underlying metastasis. He investigates three broad questions: how cancer cells within a primary tumor acquire the ability to invade and metastasize, the interrelation between the stem-cell state and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and how regulators of this transition activate profound changes in cell phenotype. Weinberg's work has contributed significantly to the understanding of cancer biology, particularly in the context of metastasis and cancer stem cells.

Research topics

• Biology
• Cell biology
• Sociology
• Immunology
• Cancer research
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Internal medicine
• Chemistry
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• Guidelines and definitions for research on epithelial–mesenchymal transition

  Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology · 2020 · 2267 citations

  Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) encompasses dynamic changes in cellular organization from epithelial to mesenchymal phenotypes, which leads to functional changes in cell migration and invasion. EMT occurs in a diverse range of physiological and pathological conditions and is driven by a conserved set of inducing signals, transcriptional regulators and downstream effectors. With over 5,700 publications indexed by Web of Science in 2019 alone, research on EMT is expanding rapidly. This gro…

  DOI

• Plasticity of ether lipids promotes ferroptosis susceptibility and evasion

  Nature · 2020 · 806 citations

  DOI

• Direct and Indirect Regulators of Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition–Mediated Immunosuppression in Breast Carcinomas

  Cancer Discovery · 2020 · 139 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

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  DOI

• Cell-intrinsic and microenvironmental determinants of metastatic colonization

  Nature Cell Biology · 2024-05-01 · 71 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Inaugurating High‐Throughput Profiling of Extracellular Vesicles for Earlier Ovarian Cancer Detection

  Advanced Science · 2023-07-23 · 54 citations

  articleOpen access

  Detecting early cancer through liquid biopsy is challenging due to the lack of specific biomarkers for early lesions and potentially low levels of these markers. The current study systematically develops an extracellular-vesicle (EV)-based test for early detection, specifically focusing on high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC). The marker selection is based on emerging insights into HGSOC pathogenesis, notably that it arises from precursor lesions within the fallopian tube. This work thus…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant U54CA163109

  NIH · $4.3M · 2016

• NIH Grant R21CA096689

  NIH · $262k · 2004

• NIH Grant R01NS029879

  NIH · $1.5M · 2001

Frequent coauthors

• Ferenc Reinhardt

  Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

  281 shared

• William C. Hahn

  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

  121 shared

• Mary W. Brooks

  98 shared

• Tsukasa Shibue

  Broad Institute

  83 shared

• Eric S. Lander

  Broad Institute

  74 shared

• Scott Valastyan

  73 shared

• Elinor Ng Eaton

  Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research

  68 shared

• Anushka Dongre

  Ithaca College

  67 shared

Labs

• Robert A. Weinberg LabPI

Awards & honors

• Japan Prize, Japan Prize Foundation, 2021
• Salk Institute Medal for Research Excellence, 2016
• Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, 2013
• Wolf Foundation Prize, 2004
• Institute of Medicine, Member, 2000

Similar researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Rudolf Jaenischh-295
• Susumu Tonegawah-237
• Phillip A. Sharph-227