Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program

The David Solit Lab

Research

David B. Solit, MD

Co-Director, Marie-Josée & Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology

Our research is based on the underlying hypothesis that the ability to inhibit an oncogenic pathway and block cancer growth will vary based on cell lineage and the complement of mutations within the tumor. To design rational therapeutic studies, we must define not only the spectrum of genetic changes within particular tumor types but also the mechanisms by which these alterations support tumor growth, survival, metastasis, and other hallmarks of cancer.

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Research Projects

Featured News

Finding Clues in Genes of ‘Exceptional Responders’

Physician-scientist David Solit was interviewed about exceptional responders, patients who defy all expectations by responding dramatically to a drug t...

Event

A student asks a question at last year’s "Major Trends” seminar.

A Sneak Preview of Our Annual “Major Trends” Seminar Live Webcast

Every year, MSK gives high school students and their teachers the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge biomedical research from our scientists.

Feature

Memorial Sloan Kettering is transforming our understanding and treatment of cancer in a myriad of ways.

Memorial Sloan Kettering Transforms Cancer Research and Care Delivery

Memorial Sloan Kettering’s vision is nothing less than to revolutionize the treatment of cancer. Learn about some of the ways we’re doing it.

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Publications Highlights

Xing F, Persaud Y, Pratilas CA, Taylor BS, Janakiraman M, She QB, Gallardo H, Liu C, Merghoub T, Hefter B, Dolgalev I, Viale A, Heguy A, De Stanchina E, Cobrinik D, Bollag G, Wolchok J, Houghton A, Solit DB. Concurrent loss of the PTEN and RB1 tumor suppressors attenuates RAF dependence in melanomas harboring (V600E)BRAF. Oncogene. 2012 Jan 26;31(4):446-57. doi: 10.1038/onc.2011.250. Epub 2011 Jul 4.

Poulikakos PI, Persaud Y, Janakiraman M, Kong X, Ng C, Moriceau G, Shi H, Atefi M, Titz B, Gabay MT, Salton M, Dahlman KB, Tadi M, Wargo JA, Flaherty KT, Kelley MC, Misteli T, Chapman PB, Sosman JA, Graeber TG, Ribas A, Lo RS, Rosen N, Solit DB. RAF inhibitor resistance is mediated by dimerization of aberrantly spliced BRAF(V600E). Nature. 2011 Nov 23;480(7377):387-90. doi: 10.1038/nature10662.

Hanrahan AJ, Schultz N, Westfal ML, Sakr RA, Giri DD, Scarperi S, Janakiraman M, Olvera N, Stevens EV, She QB, Aghajanian C, King TA, Stanchina Ed, Spriggs DR, Heguy A, Taylor BS, Sander C, Rosen N, Levine DA, Solit DB. Genomic complexity and AKT dependence in serous ovarian cancer. Cancer Discov. 2012 Jan;2(1):56-67. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-11-0170.

Misale S, Yaeger R, Hobor S, Scala E, Janakiraman M, Liska D, Valtorta E, Schiavo R, Buscarino M, Siravegna G, Bencardino K, Cercek A, Chen CT, Veronese S, Zanon C, Sartore-Bianchi A, Gambacorta M, Gallicchio M, Vakiani E, Boscaro V, Medico E, Weiser M, Siena S, Di Nicolantonio F, Solit D, Bardelli A. Emergence of KRAS mutations and acquired resistance to anti-EGFR therapy in colorectal cancer. Nature. 2012 Jun 28;486(7404):532-6. doi: 10.1038/nature11156.

Iyer G, Hanrahan AJ, Milowsky MI, Al-Ahmadie H, Scott SN, Janakiraman M, Pirun M, Sander C, Socci ND, Ostrovnaya I, Viale A, Heguy A, Peng L, Chan TA, Bochner B, Bajorin DF, Berger MF, Taylor BS, Solit DB. Genome sequencing identifies a basis for everolimus sensitivity. Science. 2012 Oct 12;338(6104):221. doi: 10.1126/science.1226344. Epub 2012 Aug 23.

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People

David B. Solit, MD

Co-Director, Marie-Josée & Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology

Physician-scientist David Solit studies human oncology and pathogenesis, genomics, oncogenes and tumor suppressors, cancer therapeutics, and clinical trials.
MD, University of Pennsylvania

[email protected]: Email Address
View physician profile: Physician profile

Members

Alexis M. Jones, MS — Alexis M. Jones
Research Lab Manager

Aphrothiti Hanrahan, PhD — Aphrothiti Hanrahan
Assistant Lab Member

Gopa Iyer, MD — Gopa Iyer
Assistant Attending, Genitourinary Oncology Service

Kwanghee Kim
Associate Attending Biologist

Sizhi Gao — Paul (Sizhi) Gao
Scientific Research Lead

Josie (Jiaqian) Luo
Weill Cornell BCMB Graduate Student

Michelle (Xinran) Tang
Weill Cornell Graduate Student

Jordan Eichholz
Computational Biologist I

Hikmat A. Al-Ahmadie, MD — Hikmat A. Al-Ahmadie
Associate Attending Pathologist, Memorial Hospital

Daniel Barbakoff

Medical Student

Jie-Fu Chen
Assistant Attending Pathologist

Olvania-Danyca Hilaire
Senior Research Technician

David (Fengshen) Kuo
Bioinformatics Software Engineer

Andrea Lopez-Sanmiguel
Graduate Research Assistant

Alejandra Lopez Rojas
Research Technician

Chione Sylvester
Administrative Assistant

Lab Alumni

Shweta Chavan
Senior Computational Biologist

Helen Won, MS — Helen Won
Senior Computational Biologist

Wenhuo Hu, PhD — Wenhuo Hu
Research Associate

Arijh Elfatih Elzein

Research Fellow

Keshia Pierre

Program Assistant

Manisha Rao

Research Fellow

Naryan Rustgi

Senior Research Technician

Andrew T. Lenis

Urology Fellow

Song Jiang

Fellow

Tripti Shrestha Bhattarai, PhD — Tripti Shrestha Bhattarai
Research Associate

Gamze Gokturk Ozcan

Senior Research Scientist

Carissa Chu

Visiting Investigator

Timothy Clinton

Urology Fellow

Jessica (Ziyu) Chen

Visiting Investigator

Wesley Yip

Fellow

Dilara Akbulut

Research Fellow

Carlos Po

Research Technician

Benjamin Davelman

Research Technician

Mark Donoghue, PhD — Mark Donoghue
Associate Director, CMO

Benjamin Freeman

Medical Student

Eduardo Ankur Mascareno

Research Technician

Adam Price

Bioinformatics Software Engineer

Allison Richards, Computational Biologist II — Allison Richards
Lead, CCS Analyst

Anne Marie Noronha
Bioinformatics Software Engineer

Sari Khaleel

Urology Fellow

Hyung Jun Woo
Senior Computational Biologist

Martina Bradic
Senior Computational Biologist

Samuel Tischfield
Senior Computational Biologist

Vasilisa Rudneva
Senior Computational Biologist

Vignesh Ravichandran

Senior Computational Biologist

Amber Ahmad

Research Technician

François Audenet
Urologic Oncology Fellow

David Barron, MD, PhD — David Barron
Radiation Oncology Resident

Federica Catalanotti, PhD — Federica Catalanotti
Research Fellow

Eugene K. Cha, MD — Eugene K. Cha
Assistant Attending, Urologic Oncology

Michael Cheng

Fellow

Neil Desai, MD, MHS — Neil Desai
Resident in Radiation Oncology

Noah Friedman, Computational Biologist II — Noah Friedman
Computational Biologist

Rebecca Hiner

Senior Technician

Joseph Hreiki, MD — Joseph Hreiki
Research Fellow

Manickam Janakiraman, PhD — Manickam Janakiraman
Research Associate

Philip Kim, MD — Philip Kim
Clinical Research Fellow

Byron Lee

Urology Fellow

Victor McPherson

Urology Fellow

Moriah Heller Nissan, PhD — Moriah Heller Nissan
OncoKB Scientist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

Alexandria Pinto

Computational Biologist

Ricardo Ramirez
Cornell University Graduate Student

Tara Soumerai
Assistant Attending, Gynecologic Medical Oncology Service

Brooke Sylvester, PhD — Brooke Sylvester
Research Fellow

Efsevia Vakiani, MD, PhD — Efsevia Vakiani
Assistant Attending Pathologist

Hannah Wise
Manager, Clinical Data at Flatiron Health, New York, NY

Feng Xing, PhD — Feng Xing
Research Fellow

Kai Zhang

Graduate Research Assistant

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

Member, American Society for Clinical Investigation (2011)
Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2007)
Kimmel Scholar, Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research (2007)
Career Development Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (2002)
Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical (2001)

Doris Duke Translational Award, Doris Duke Foundation (2001)
Clinical Scholars Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health (2000)

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

Career Opportunities

Apply now

Postdoc Position in Preclinical and Translational Cancer Genomics and Therapeutics

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Get in Touch

[email protected]

Lab Head Email
646-888-2641

For non-clinical issues only
646-422-4459

For patient-related issues
646-888-2649

Lab Phone

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.

David B. Solit discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

American Association for Cancer Research
Professional Services and Activities
BridgeBio Inc.
Professional Services and Activities
Elsie Biotechnologies, Inc.
Equity; Professional Services and Activities
Fog Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Professional Services and Activities
Fore Biotherapeutics
Equity; Professional Services and Activities
Function Oncology, Inc.
Equity; Professional Services and Activities

Paige.AI, Inc.
Professional Services and Activities
Pfizer, Inc.
Professional Services and Activities
Pyramid Biosciences, Inc.
Equity; Professional Services and Activities
Rain Therapeutics Inc.
Professional Services and Activities
Scorpion Therapeutics, Inc.
Equity; Professional Services and Activities
Vividion Therapeutics
Equity

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].

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