David Tuveson
Professor
Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research
Cancer Center Director
M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 1994
dtuveson@cshl.edu | 516-367-5246
Pancreatic cancer is an extremely lethal malignancy. On average, patients who are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer succumb to the disease within 6 months. Research is the only way to defeat pancreatic cancer. My lab is making progress toward finding a cure by detecting the disease earlier and designing novel therapeutic approaches.
David Tuveson’s laboratory uses murine and human models of pancreatic cancer to explore the fundamental biology of malignancy and thereby identify new diagnostic and treatment strategies. The lab’s approaches run the gamut from designing new model systems of disease to developing new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for rapid evaluation in preclinical and clinical settings. The lab’s studies make use of organoid cultures—three-dimensional cultures of normal or cancerous epithelia—as ex vivo models to probe cancer biology. Current projects in the lab explore changes in redox metabolism associated with pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis, dissect signaling by the Ras oncogene, discover new biomarkers of early pancreas cancer, and identify mechanisms of cross-talk between pancreatic cancer cells and the tumor stroma. Novel treatment approaches suggested by these studies are then tested by performing therapeutic experiments in mouse models. To dissect molecular changes associated with pancreatic tumorigenesis, the Tuveson lab has generated a large collection of human patient-derived organoid models. By measuring the therapeutic sensitivities of patient-derived organoids, the lab is working to identify novel strategies to treat patients as well as markers of therapeutic response. The Tuveson Laboratory maintains strong links to clinical research, and the ultimate goal is confirmation of preclinical findings in early-phase trials. Collectively, the lab’s bench-to-bedside approach is codified as the “Cancer Therapeutics Initiative,” and this initiative will provide these same approaches to the entire Laboratorycancer community.
Dr. Tuveson serves as Director of the LaboratoryCancer Center and the Chief Scientist for the .
Making headlines
September 11, 2024
Several Laboratoryfaculty members received national mainstream media attention in 2024.
Catching Cancer When It鈥檚 Curable
June 24, 2024
LaboratoryTrustee Bruce Ratner discusses his new book during a fireside chat with Professor and Cancer Center Director David Tuveson.
Tuveson elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
April 24, 2024
LaboratoryCancer Center Director and Professor David Tuveson joins an elite membership roster whose historic ranks include names like Darwin and Einstein.
Nobel laureate honored at Laboratorychemistry symposium
April 15, 2024
鈥淭he Future of Click Chemistry鈥� brought together two-time Nobelist K. Barry Sharpless with his former apprentices John Moses and David Tuveson.
One Experiment: Pancreatic mucus
March 26, 2024
That鈥檚 not the Starship Enterprise burning up in space. It鈥檚 an up-close look at precancerous pancreatic lesions and the mucus they produce.
Pancreatic cancer lives on mucus
February 28, 2024
Mucus is not just snot. Laboratoryscientists have discovered some pancreatic cancer cells depend on it. The finding may open a new therapeutic avenue.
Pancreatic cancer hijacks a brain-building protein
February 14, 2024
Laboratoryresearchers have found that EN-1, a protein involved in neurodevelopment, can help pancreatic cancer spread throughout the body.
Laboratoryannounces AACR Cancer Centers Alliance
September 18, 2023
The new initiative, led by LaboratoryProfessor David Tuveson, seeks to unite the nation鈥檚 NCI-designated cancer centers to help save more patients鈥� lives.
This killer protein causes pancreatic cancer
April 26, 2023
Laboratoryresearchers have found that high levels of a protein called SRSF1 can cause pancreatitis and jumpstart tumor development.
Laboratoryprofessors on the cutting edge of scientific research
November 21, 2022
Four Laboratoryresearchers were ranked among the world鈥檚 most cited in 2022.
Selected Publications
7 Jun 2021 | Nature Communications | 12(1):3414
Nielsen, Sebastian; Strøbech, Jan; Horton, Edward; Jackstadt, Rene; Laitala, Anu; Bravo, Marina; Maltese, Giorgia; Jensen, Adina; Reuten, Raphael; Rafaeva, Maria; Karim, Saadia; Hwang, Chang-Il; Arnes, Luis; Tuveson, David; Sansom, Owen; Morton, Jennifer; Erler, Janine;
25 May 2021 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | 118(21):e2016904118
Cheng, Derek; Oni, Tobiloba; Thalappillil, Jennifer; Park, Youngkyu; Ting, Hsiu-Chi; Alagesan, Brinda; Prasad, Nadia; Addison, Kenneth; Rivera, Keith; Pappin, Darryl; Van Aelst, Linda; Tuveson, David;
1 Apr 2021 | Clinical Cancer Research | 27(7):2023-2037
Steele, Nina; Biffi, Giulia; Kemp, Samantha; Zhang, Yaqing; Drouillard, Donovan; Syu, LiJyun; Hao, Yuan; Oni, Tobiloba; Brosnan, Erin; Elyada, Ela; Doshi, Abhishek; Hansma, Christa; Espinoza, Carlos; Abbas, Ahmed; The, Stephanie; Irizarry-Negron, Valerie; Halbrook, Christopher; Franks, Nicole; Hoffman, Megan; Brown, Kristee; Carpenter, Eileen; Nwosu, Zeribe; Johnson, Craig; Lima, Fatima; Anderson, Michelle; Park, Youngkyu; Crawford, Howard; Lyssiotis, Costas; Frankel, Timothy; Rao, Arvind; Bednar, Filip; Dlugosz, Andrzej; Preall, Jonathan; Tuveson, David; Allen, Benjamin; Pasca di Magliano, Marina;
Apr 2021 | Cancer Discovery | 11(4):801-804
Tuveson, David;
1 Jan 2021 | Physiological Reviews | 101(1):147-176
Biffi, Giulia; Tuveson, David;
All Publications
22 Nov 2024 | Carcinogenesis | 45(11):799-800
Alewine, Christine; Harris, Curtis; Maitra, Anirban; Pine, Sharon; Tuveson, David;
8 Nov 2024 | Carcinogenesis
Tuveson, David; Allen, Peter;
25 Oct 2024 | Science | 386(6720):eadk9167
Swamynathan, Manojit; Kuang, Shan; Watrud, Kaitlin; Doherty, Mary; Gineste, Charlotte; Mathew, Grinu; Gong, Grace; Cox, Hilary; Cheng, Eileen; Reiss, David; Kendall, Jude; Ghosh, Diya; Reczek, Colleen; Zhao, Xiang; Herzka, Tali; Špokait臈, Saul臈; Dessus, Antoine; Kim, Seung; Klingbeil, Olaf; Liu, Juan; Nowak, Dawid; Alsudani, Habeeb; Wee, Tse-Luen; Park, Youngkyu; Minicozzi, Francesca; Rivera, Keith; Almeida, Ana; Chang, Kenneth; Chakrabarty, Ram; Wilkinson, John; Gimotty, Phyllis; Diermeier, Sarah; Egeblad, Mikala; Vakoc, Christopher; Locasale, Jason; Chandel, Navdeep; Janowitz, Tobias; Hicks, James; Wigler, Michael; Pappin, Darryl; Williams, Roger; Cifani, Paolo; Tuveson, David; Laporte, Jocelyn; Trotman, Lloyd;
18 Oct 2024 | bioRxiv
Tuveson, David; Tonelli, Claudia; Deschenes, Astrid; Gaeth, Victoria; Jensen, Amanda; Vithlani, Nandan; Yao, Melissa; Zhao, Zhen; Park, Youngkyu;
26 Jul 2024 | Cancer Discovery
Klingbeil, Olaf; Skopelitis, Damianos; Tonelli, Claudia; Yoshimoto, Toyoki; Alpsoy, Aktan; Panepinto, Maria; Minicozzi, Francesca; Merrill, Joseph; Cafiero, Amanda; Aggarwal, Disha; Russo, Suzanne; Ha, Taehoon; Demerdash, Osama; Wee, Tse-Luen; Spector, David; Lyons, Scott; Tuveson, David; Cifani, Paolo; Vakoc, Christopher;