Research Topics | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

At Memorial Sloan Kettering, scientific inquiry unites researchers with diverse expertise from across our academic programs and medical departments. Learn about some of our most intensively pursued topics of investigation.

using the genetics and genomics of cancer to create new treatment options

Cancer Genetics & Genomics

Pictured: Immune system cells called T cells (orange) have detected a cancer cell and attached to it. Innovative drugs pioneered by Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers stimulate the ability of T cells to recognize and destroy cancer cells.

Cancer Immunotherapy & Vaccines

Pictured: A cell structure called mitochondrion imaged by transmission electron microscopy. Within mitochondria, sugars and fats are oxidized to produce energy needed for diverse cell functions.

Cancer Metabolism

Pictured: Two mesothelioma cells connected by long extensions called tunneling nanotubes, which potentially may be a conduit for communication between the cells.

Cell Signaling & Regulation

Pictured: Immature nerve cells generated from induced pluripotent stem cells by cell engineering. Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are at the forefront of developing cell-based therapies for cancer and other diseases, including central nervous system disorders.

Cell-Based Therapy

Pictured: Chemical biologist investigating the use of chemical tools to study and manipulate biological systems.

Chemical Biology

Computational oncology experts

Computational Oncology

Pictured: An early structure of a developing mouse embryo called a blastocyst, imaged by confocal 3-D microscopy. The colored areas represent cell layers called the epiblast (pink) and the primitive endoderm (blue).

Developmental Biology

Pictured: Biostatisticians Venkatraman Seshan (left) and Ronglai Shen use computational methods to analyze cancer genome data.

Epidemiology, Statistics & Health Outcomes

Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists in the area of epigenetics

Pictured: Exercise physiologist supervisor Meghan Michalski with a patient

Exercise Oncology

Pictured: An X and a Y chromosome from a cell undergoing meiosis, an event that leads to the formation of sperm or egg cells, imaged by electron microscopy. One end of each chromosome is joined at the site where DNA is exchanged between the chromosomes by homologous recombination. Cells also use this process to repair some types of DNA damage.

Genome Integrity

Pictured: Richard O’Reilly, Chief of the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Service, with a patient. Dr. O’Reilly is studying the immunology of stem-cell transplants and developing new cell-based therapies for children with blood disorders.

Hematologic Malignancies

Pictured: A cross section of a piece of breast tumor tissue imaged by confocal mosaicking microscopy, a method Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are developing to make pathology in the OR more effective.

Pictured: Developing white blood cells called T cells on the surface of the thymus. T cells defend the body from foreign intruders such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, and may also protect against cancer.

Pictured: A zebrafish with melanoma that has spread throughout the body. The tumors have been engineered to light up in green, providing a powerful model for research into the biology of metastasis.

Metastasis & Drug Resistance

Pictured: Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that often infects cancer patients, imaged by scanning electron microscopy.

Microbiome & Inflammation

Pictured: Surgical pathologist Jorge Reis-Filho uses DNA sequencing and functional genomics approaches to explore the biology of rare and aggressive forms of breast cancer, and to develop new treatments.

Molecular Pathology & Diagnostics

Pictured: Close-up view of the structure of a carbon nanotube, a cylindrical particle formed by carbon atoms linked in a hexagonal shape. Our scientists are exploring the use of carbon nanotubes for imaging, drug delivery, and other applications.

Pictured: Immature nerve cells are differentiating into the pain-sensing cells of the peripheral nervous system.

Neuroscience & Neuro-Oncology

Pictured: A metastatic breast cancer cell (green) has infiltrated the brain and is holding on tightly to a blood capillary (purple).

Solid Tumor Oncogenesis

Pictured: Nerve cells generated from embryonic stem cells and manipulated by a technology called optogenetics. Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists are using stem-cell engineering to develop new treatments for Parkinson’s disease.

Pictured: Two mesothelioma cells connected by long extensions called tunneling nanotubes, which potentially may be a conduit for communication between the cells.

Structural Biology

Pictured: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common bacterium, growing in a petri dish. Colonies on the right migrate more quickly than those on the left due to a complex group behavior called swarming.

Systems Biology

Physician-scientist and soft tissue sarcoma expert Ping Chi

Targeted Therapy

tumor in microenvironment

Tumor Microenvironment