Event date:
Mar 11 2021 7:00 pm

Mechanisms of the Malignant Progression of Carcinomas

Speaker(s)
Professor Dr. Robert Weinberg
Venue
Zoom/Online
Abstract
The formation of primary tumors depends in no small part on the acquisition by evolving primary tumor cells of a series of somatically mutated alleles. However, the last step of tumor progression involves the processes of invasion and metastasis and it has been less clear precisely how these traits are acquired. As will be described, these phenotypes of high-grade malignancy are consequences of the actions of non-genetic, i.e, epigenetic changes in cancer cells that are mediated by induction of the cell-biological program termed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which confers many of the traits that are associated traditionally with the changes associated with the carcinoma cells of high-grade tumors. In addition, induction of this program is associated with the acquisition of stemness, that is, tumor-initiating potential, which is essential for successful metastasis formation. These various non-genetic processes are discussed in the talk.

SBASSE is pleased to invite Professor Dr. Robert Weinberg from MIT, USA for a seminar. He is Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at MIT and Member of MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. In his own words “Robert A. Weinberg studies how cancer spreads, what gives cancer stem-cells their unique qualities, and the molecular players involved in the formation of cancer stem cells and metastases”. He is one of the leaders in cancer biology in living times.

Zoom in with us LIVE for this major scientific event on Thursday 11th March 2021 at 7 pm PST

 

About the speaker:

Robert Weinberg received his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from MIT. After post-doctoral studies in Israel and in California, he was recruited back to MIT, where he has been on the faculty of the Biology Department since 1974 and a member of the MIT-affiliated Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research since 1982. His research is focused on the mechanisms of tumor formation and progression. Since 1985, he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has received several awards including the National Medal of Science, Wolf Foundation Prize, Salk Institute Medal for Research Excellence, and this year he was also awarded the Japan Prize by the Japan Foundation.

Learn more about Professor Dr. Robert Weinberg via this link: https://biology.mit.edu/profile/robert-a-weinberg/.