About the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research

What is the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research?

The Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research is the scientific engine driving basic and translational research at the Mass General Cancer Center. Through scientific innovation and a multi-disciplinary environment, we strive for global impact on the treatment, early diagnosis, and prevention of all forms of cancer. We are committed to teaching and training the next generation of cancer researchers, within a diverse and inclusive research community.

What Sets the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research Apart

The unique strength of the Krantz Center is the manner in which the Krantz Center’s basic scientists collaborate with Mass General Cancer Center's leading oncologists and other physicians and medical professionals to meet the complex challenges presented by human cancer. At Mass General—one of the world’s most distinguished academic medical centers—the transfer of knowledge from basic research to clinical practice can happen in a matter of months, rather than the years required in many other settings.

See examples of key scientific discoveries made by our investigators that have substantially changed the way physicians understand and treat cancer.

The Krantz Center greatly values creativity and innovation across multiple disciplines of cancer research, and we are proud of our strong culture of collaboration and collegiality, demonstrated by multiple co-authored manuscripts, joint laboratory meetings, and cross-laboratory team science. We are committed to increasing diversity among our faculty and trainees, and to directing scientific discovery toward areas of unmet need in our society.

Training Opportunities

We are dedicated to training and mentoring the next generation of young scientists who will continue to harness the power of science and uncover new and more effective ways to fight cancer. Learn how we foster success in Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research trainees through the SUCCrEED Program.

Krantz Center Faculty

The Krantz Center includes over 50 Principal Investigators with Harvard Medical School appointments in the Departments of Medicine, Pathology, Radiation Oncology, Surgery, Dermatology and Pediatrics, as well as the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Together with over 500 laboratory investigators, they conduct research in 80,000 square feet of laboratory space in three Massachusetts General Hospital research facilities: Charlestown Navy Yard, Simches Research Building, and Jackson Building. Ongoing research projects range from exploring cancer genetics, genomics, epigenetics and proteomics, to developmental biology, cell signaling, cancer diagnostics, molecular therapeutics and drug resistance, immunology and immunotherapy, cellular metabolism, cell cycle regulation, RNA biology, and computational biology.

Our investigators actively pursue fundamental questions in cancer biology, together with translational applications with potential clinical impact. Major areas of emphasis include:

• Center for Molecular Therapeutics, bringing together high-throughput cellular screens, proteome-wide targeting of reactive cysteines, metabolomics-directed drug targets, and unique patient-derived tumor models
• Circulating Tumor Cell Biology, a unique partnership between bioengineers, molecular biologists and clinicians to create tools and develop insights into blood-based spread of cancer
• CAR-T & Cellular Immunotherapy, a rapidly expanding program to design novel cellular therapies, from initial concept through to first-in-human clinical trials
• Cancer Immunology, a comprehensive research program from single-cell and spatial transcriptomic mapping of patient-derived biopsies to creation of new-generation cancer vaccines
• Rare Cancer Initiatives, a focus on cancers with specific features that are understudied yet potentially treatable
• Advanced Proteomics & Computational Biology, an initiative combining next-generation mass spectrometric analytics of proteins in blood and human tissues with machine-learning algorithms, transforming their capabilities and applications
• Chemical Biology, a basic research program that focuses on the development of new chemical probes which will allow us to enhance our understanding of cancer mechanisms and lay the groundwork for the development of therapeutic strategies

Beyond these highlights, all Krantz Center faculty pursue their scientific vision. Meet our faculty.