Joan Massagué facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joan Massagué
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| Born |
Joan Massagué i Solé
April 30, 1953 |
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| Known for | Cancer metastasis |
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| Institutions | Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Institute for Research in Biomedicine |
Joan Massagué (born April 30, 1953) is a famous Spanish biologist. He is currently the director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Massagué is known worldwide for his important work on cancer and how it spreads in the body. He also studies how cells grow and behave.
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Early Life and Education
Joan Massagué was born in Barcelona, Spain, on April 30, 1953. He studied biochemistry at the University of Barcelona. In 1978, he earned his doctorate degree there.
After that, he went to Brown University in the United States. He worked in a lab and learned about the hormone insulin. In 1982, he became a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Career in Cancer Research
In 1989, Dr. Massagué joined Memorial Sloan Kettering, a big cancer research center. He became the head of the Cell Biology Program. Later, in 2003, he helped start the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program.
Since 2005, he has also been a science advisor at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona. From 1990 to 2013, he was a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 2013, Dr. Massagué became the Director of the Sloan Kettering Institute.
Discoveries in Cancer Biology
Dr. Massagué has made many important discoveries about cancer. He is known for finding out how a special protein called TGFβ works. This protein can sometimes stop cancer cells from growing, but it can also help them spread.
In 2003, his team showed how TGF-β can affect breast cancer. They found it could make cancer spread to the lungs but slow down tumors in other places. That same year, they discovered genes that help breast cancer spread to the bones.
In 2005, Dr. Massagué's team found out which breast cancer cells were likely to spread to the lungs. Later, they learned how cancer cells from the breast and lung can spread and grow in the brain.
Since 2009, his lab has studied how cancer cells can "re-seed" tumors. This means that cancer cells that have spread can come back and make new, aggressive tumors. His team also found how these cells use a molecule called L1CAM to help them spread through blood vessels. In 2016, they explained why some cancer cells stay hidden for a long time before spreading.
In 2020, Dr. Massagué's team published a big discovery. They found out how cancer spreads, which is called metastasis. For a long time, scientists thought this spreading was only due to changes in genes. But his research showed new ways it happens. This discovery is helping scientists find better ways to treat cancer.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Massagué has received many awards for his important work. Some of these include:
- Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research (2016)
- Charles Rodolphe Brupbacher Prize for Cancer Research (2015)
- Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award (2011)
- BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Science and Technology (2008)
- Passano Laureate Award (2007)
- Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science (2006)
- Member of the National Academy of Medicine (2006)
- Prince of Asturias Award in Science and Technology (2004)
- Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2000)
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)
