Molecular Pharmacology Program

The Michael Kharas Lab

Research

Michael G. Kharas, PhD

The Kharas lab is working to identify critical pathways in both normal and leukemic hematopoietic cells.

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Go inside the lab of Michael Kharas from SKI’s Molecular Pharmacology Program.

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Featured News

New Research Finds Genetic Variant in the MSI2 Gene May Prevent Certain Blood Cancers 

Scientists have discovered an inherited gene variant that may reduce the risk of developing certain blood cancers.

RNA Biology, Stem Cells, and Cancer: At Work with MSK’s Michael Kharas

An inside look at the research of MSK's Dr. Michael Kharas, whose work on RNA biology is shedding new light on cancer.

Illustration of a fish inside a bubble-like structure. The fish has strands of genetic material coming from its mouth. Outside the bubble is a worm-like creature with an open mouth, ready to gobble up the fish.

In the Lab

Researchers Discover New Cancer Cell Vulnerability: Droplets in the Nucleus

SKI researchers have learned how tiny droplets prevent a cancer-causing type of messenger RNA from being degraded in leukemia cells.

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Publications Highlights

Inherited resilience to clonal hematopoiesis by modifying stem cell RNA regulation. Agarwal G, Antoszewski M, Xie X, Pershad Y, Arora UP, Poon CL, Lyu P, Lee AJ, Guo CJ, Ye T, Norford LB, Neehus AL, Della Volpe L, Wahlster L, Ranasinghe D, Ho TC, Barlowe TS, Chow A, Schurer A, Taggart J, Durham BH, Abdel-Wahab O, McGraw KL, Allan JM, Soldatov R, Bick AG, Kharas MG, Sankaran VG. Science. 2026 Jan;391(6780):52-58. doi: 10.1126/science.adx4174. Epub 2026 Jan 1. PMID: 41477881; PMCID: PMC12850507.

SON is an essential m⁶A target for hematopoietic stem cell fate. Luo H, Cortés-López M, Tam CL, Xiao M, Wakiro I, Chu KL, Pierson A, Chan M, Chang K, Yang X, Fecko D, Han G, Ahn EE, Morris QD, Landau DA, Kharas MG. Cell Stem Cell. 2023 Dec 7;30(12):1658-1673.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.11.006. PMID: 38065069; PMCID: PMC10752439.

N⁶-Methyladenosine on mRNA facilitates a phase-separated nuclear body that suppresses myeloid leukemic differentiation. Cheng Y, Xie W, Pickering BF, Chu KL, Savino AM, Yang X, Luo H, Nguyen DT, Mo S, Barin E, Velleca A, Rohwetter TM, Patel DJ, Jaffrey SR, Kharas MG. Cancer Cell. 2021 Jul 12;39(7):958-972.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2021.04.017. Epub 2021 May 27. PMID: 34048709; PMCID: PMC8282764.

The N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A)-forming enzyme METTL3 controls myeloid differentiation of normal hematopoietic and leukemia cells. Vu LP, Pickering BF, Cheng Y, Zaccara S, Nguyen D, Minuesa G, Chou T, Chow A, Saletore Y, MacKay M, Schulman J, Famulare C, Patel M, Klimek VM, Garrett-Bakelman FE, Melnick A, Carroll M, Mason CE, Jaffrey SR, Kharas MG. Nat Med. 2017 Nov;23(11):1369-1376. doi: 10.1038/nm.4416. Epub 2017 Sep 18. PMID: 28920958; PMCID: PMC5677536.

High Fructose Drives the Serine Synthesis Pathway in Acute Myeloid Leukemic Cells. Jeong S, Savino AM, Chirayil R, Barin E, Cheng Y, Park SM, Schurer A, Mullarky E, Cantley LC, Kharas MG, Keshari KR. Cell Metab. 2021 Jan 5;33(1):145-159.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.12.005. Epub 2020 Dec 22. PMID: 33357456; PMCID: PMC8168776.

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People

Michael G. Kharas, PhD

Cancer biologist Michael Kharas studies RNA regulators of self-renewal in both normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.
PhD, University of California Irvine

[email protected]: Email Address

Members

Angelika Aleman

Postdoctoral Fellow

Harold Elias

Senior Research Scientist

Chiara Evans

Postdoctoral Fellow

Michael Kharas

Member

Chengliang Liu

Weill-Cornell Graduate School Student

Sibasish Mohanty

Research Scholar

Sun Mi Park

Research Associate

Jessica Qi

Research Technician

Rabia Shahswar

Research Fellow

Briana Turner

WCMC Graduate Student

Laura Vidal

Administrative Assistant

Isaac Wakiro

GSK Student

Wei Wei

Assistant Attending

Michael Xiao

GSK Graduate Student

Xueqin Xie

Research Scholar - NYSTEM Training Award at the CSCB

Xuejing Yang

Postdoctoral Fellow

Laura Wilson

Project Coordinator

Cynthia Almonte

Administrative Assistant

Elianna Amin

Research Fellow

Tatiana Erazo Andrade

Research Scholar

Ersilia Barin

Graduate Student at Weill Cornell

Trevor Barlowe

Research Technician

Emily Batchelor

Research Technician

Mandy Chan

Research Technician

Aaron Chang

Graduate Student

Kathryn Chang

Research Technician

Yuanming Cheng

Research Scholars

Timothy Chou

Research Technician

Arthur Chow

Research Technician

Karen Chu

Pooja Desai

Lab Intern

Gerard Minuesa Dinares

Biotech

Kim Do

Technician, Ly Vu Lab, BC Cancer Agency

Genevieve Girard

Research Technician

Saroj Gourkanti

Graduate Student at University of California, San Diego

Grace Han

Research Technician

Florisela Herrejon Chavez

Research Fellow, Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Portland, OR

Tzu-Chieh Kate Ho

Research Scholar

Ming Jiang

Graduate Student

Hanzhi Luo

Research Fellow

Diu Nguyen

Research Scholars

Rachel Okabe

Lab Intern

Aspen Pierson

Research Technician

Camila Prieto

Graduate Student

Rhoshini Raghuraman

Research Technician

Thomas Rohwetter

Angela Savino

Alex Schurer

Medical Student at Albert Einstein

James Taggart

Research Technician

Patrick Tivnan

Research Technician

Anthony Velleca

Ly Vu

Assistant Professor, The University of British Columbia

Achievements

Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Career Development Award (2017)
Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation ‘A’ Award (2016)
American Society of Hematology Junior Faculty Scholar Award (2011)
Kimmel Scholar Award (2013)
V-Scholar Award (2013)

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

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Research Technician

As a Research Technician you will perform research activities in collaboration with internal/external personnel to complete science-based projects. You will normally receive detailed instructions while making observations, analyzing data and interpreting results according to laboratory procedures. The Research Technician will provide support to all technical/research staff and postdocs.

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Get in Touch

[email protected]

Lab Head Email
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Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community 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. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders 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. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Michael G. Kharas discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

858 Therapeutics, Inc.
Equity; Professional Services and Activities
AstraZeneca
Professional Services and Activities

Transition Bio, Inc.
Professional Services and Activities

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, 2025 through disclosure submission in spring 2026). 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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