Cancer Biology & Genetics Program
The Scott Lowe Lab
Research
Professor
About the Scott Lowe Lab
Cancer biologist Scott Lowe uses genetically engineered mouse models to study how the genetic alterations in cancer cells contribute to tumorigenesis, alter treatment response, and create molecular vulnerabilities that may be targeted therapeutically.
Cancer arises through an evolutionary process whereby normal cells acquire mutations that erode growth controls. Still, cancer is not an inevitable consequence of mutation, but is kept in check by intrinsic tumor-suppressor programs activated in damaged cells. We study such programs to reveal, and ultimately exploit, the strategies nature uses to combat cancer.
Our early studies focused on cell-intrinsic programs that prevent tumorigenesis (e.g., apoptosis, senescence), and have broadened to cell-extrinsic mechanisms (e.g., immune surveillance). New areas of interest include how tumor-suppressive programs are blunted by environmental factors known to increase cancer incidence (e.g., obesity, aging) and how excessive activation of tumor-suppressive programs (e.g., senescence) can harm function of normal tissue. To gain a mechanistic understanding of these phenomena, we apply mouse models in which cancer arises in an intact tissue ecosystem, which is a long-standing strength of our program. Our affiliation with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center enables us to probe human systems as well.
Another major goal is to harness our knowledge of tumor suppression therapeutically. We and others have shown that reengaging tumor-suppressive programs in established cancer cells can coordinate tumor regression through both cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic components (1-5), so these programs represent attractive strategies for tumor control. With Michel Sadelain, we have also developed a cell therapy approach to remove excessive senescent cells from tissues (6); this therapy may have beneficial effects on cancer and non-cancer pathologies. Advancing these concepts are major goals of our current research.
Research Projects
Featured News
Publications Highlights
Burdziak C, Alonso-Curbelo D, Walle T, Reyes J, Barriga FM, Haviv D, Xie Y, Zhao Z, Zhao CJ, Chen HA, Chaudhary O, Masilionis I, Choo ZN, Gao V, Luan W, Wuest A, Ho YJ, Wei Y, Quail DF, Koche R, Mazutis L, Chaligné R, Nawy T, Lowe SW, Pe’er D.Science. 2023 May 12;380(6645):eadd5327. doi: 10.1126/science.add5327. Epub 2023 May 12.PMID: 37167403
Chen HA, Ho YJ, Mezzadra R, Adrover JM, Smolkin R, Zhu C, Woess K, Bernstein N, Schmitt G, Fong L, Luan W, Wuest A, Tian S, Li X, Broderick C, Hendrickson RC, Egeblad M, Chen Z, Alonso-Curbelo D, Lowe SW.Cancer Discov. 2023 Feb 6;13(2):432-453. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-0528.PMID: 36302222 Free PMC article.
People
Scott W. Lowe, PhD
Chair, Cancer Biology & Genetics Program, SKI; Chair, Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Professor
- PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- [email protected]
- Email Address
- 646-888-3342
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Members
- PhD, Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute, University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
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- MS, Stony Brook University
- BS, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
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- PhD, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
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- PhD, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
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- PhD, University of Rennes 1
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- MD, Johannes-Gutenberg-University, School of Medicine, Mainz, Germany
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- PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York
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- BS, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ
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- MD, Capital University of Medical Sciences (China)
- 646-888-3340
- Lab Phone
- PhD, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
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- PhD, Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands)
- 646-888-3340
- Lab Phone
- Stanford University
- 646-888-3342
- Office Phone
- PhD, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
- 646-888-3340
- Lab Phone
- MS, University of Turku (Finland)
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- PhD, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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- PhD, Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New York, NY
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- PhD, Columbia University, New York, NY
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- MD PhD, NYU School of Medicine
- Residency (Internal Medicine), Massachusetts General Hospital
- Fellowship (Medical Oncology), MSKCC
- PhD, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas [CNIO] (Spain)
- PhD, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Institute for Research in Biomedicine [IRB] Barcelona (Spain)
- MD, Westphalian Wilhelms University (Germany)
- MD, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)
- PhD, Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New York, NY
- PhD, Medical Research Council, Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London (UK)
- PhD, University of Konstanz (Germany)
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- MD, National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
- BS, National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
- PhD, Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, New York, NY
- PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- PhD, University of Melbourne (Australia)
- PhD, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
- MS, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School, New York, NY
- PhD, University of Heidelberg (Germany)
- MD, University of Tübingen (Germany)
- PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY
- PhD, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School, New York, NY
- Cancer Biology
- PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
- PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas [CNIO] (Spain)
- PhD, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas [CNIO] (Spain)
- PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
- PhD, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY
- PhD, University of Frankfurt (Germany)
- PhD, University of California, San Francisco, CA
- MD-PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY
- PhD, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
- PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
- MD, Hannover Medical School (Germany)
- MD, University of Leipzig (Germany)
- PhD, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY
- MD, RWTH Aachen (Germany)
- PhD, Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY
- MD, Medical University of China (China)
- PhD, Stony Brook University, New York
- BS, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- MS, New York University
- BS, University of Connecticut
- AALAS Technician Certification
- BS, Yale University
- BS, Molloy College
- BA, City College of New York
- MS, New York University
- BSE, University of Pennsylvania
- BS, Binghamton University
- BS, Stony Brook University
- BS, Fairleigh Dickinson University
- BA, Hunter College
- MSc Oxon, University of Oxford (England)
- BS, University of Cincinnati
Lab Alumni
Open Positions
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Lab Resources
Scott Lowe Lab Plasmid and Animal Requests
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For plasmids not listed on Addgene, please contact our Lab Manager, Anne Trumble-Koncelik, [email protected].
For animal requests, please contact our Mouse Colony Manager, Janelle Simon, [email protected].
Disclosures
Doctors and faculty members 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.
MSK requires doctors and faculty members 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.
Scott W. Lowe discloses the following relationships and financial interests:
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Algen
Intellectual Property Rights -
Blueprint Medicines
Equity; Professional Services and Activities -
Cancer Research UK
Professional Services and Activities -
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas
Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated) -
Faeth Therapeutics, Inc
Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
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Fate Therapeutics
Intellectual Property Rights; Professional Services and Activities -
Mirimus
Equity; Professional Services and Activities -
Oric Pharmaceuticals
Equity; Professional Services and Activities -
PMV Pharma
Equity; Professional Services and Activities -
Senescea Therapeutics
Equity; Intellectual Property Rights; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
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, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). 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 [email protected].