Research Spotlight: A Blood-Based Assay for the Detection of IDH1.R132H-Mutant Gliomas
Researchers have introduced a blood-based test that allows for the minimally invasive detection of tumor-derived extracellular RNA using only 2ml of blood.
About Bob Carter, MD, PhD
Bob S. Carter, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in complex intracranial surgery including brain, pituitary, and skull base tumors, and brain aneurysms.
Dr. Carter is the Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Mass General and the William and Elizabeth Sweet Professor of Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School. One of the nation’s leading clinical neurosurgeons, Dr. Carter co-leads Massachusetts General Hospital’s brain tumor program, which brings together over 100 faculty and staff focused on brain tumor clinical care, research and education.
As a prolific researcher, Dr. Carter's scientific work has included the development of the first reported EGFRvIII directed CAR T-cell therapy, and the first characterizations of exosomes in glioblastoma. He is a principal investigator participating in the NCI's liquid biopsy consortium. Dr. Carter leads a team of clinician scientists who have developed the role of “big data” in characterizing outcomes in oncologic and vascular neurosurgery.
Dr. Carter is extensively published, and he lectures internationally on neurosurgery topics. He served as Chair of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Neurosurgery and editorial advisory board member for Neurosurgery.
Prior to joining Mass General, Dr. Carter served as Professor and Chair of Neurosurgery at the UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Elected to America's Top Doctors®, Dr. Carter is a fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and a member of numerous medical organizations, including the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He serves on the program committee for the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference and has served on the executive boards of the Joint Cerebrovascular Section and the New England Neurosurgical Society.
Clinical Interests:
- Acoustic Neuroma
- Brain aneurysms
- Brain tumors
- Carotid endarterectomy
- Cranial base surgery / Endoscopic skull base surgery
- Meningiomas
- Pituitary tumors
Treats:
- Adult & Pediatrics
Languages:
- French
Locations
Mass General Surgery
55 Fruit St.
White Building
Suite 506
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-8581
Fax: 617-643-0669
Medical Education
- MDPhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Neurological Surgery, American Board of Neurological Surgery
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid CT
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid RI
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
As a NIH funded investigator since 2000, Dr. Carter has been a leader in promoting neurosurgery's use of molecular tools to create novel diagnostics and treatments for neurologic disorders. He served as clinical lead on the original Nature Cell Biology publication which first described the use of exosomes for brain tumor liquid biopsy. Dr. Carter and Dr. Leonora Balaj now lead an active collaborative research group for the clinical study of exosomes in brain tumors, a major area of research focus.
Dr. Carter has also developed novel gene and cell therapies for neurologic disorders. Dr. Carter has also been active in the genetic engineering of new anti-glioma biological therapies. He was a lead investigator in the first descriptions of CAR-T receptors against the VEGF-receptor and anti-EGFRvIII CAR T-cell receptors, setting the stage for ongoing clinical studies of CAR-T cells in brain tumors. Recently, Dr. Carter co-led a team which recently published the description of new iPSC derived cell therapy for Parkinson's, in collaboration with the Kim laboratory at Mclean Hospital. In a pioneering study, published in the NEJM and reviewed in Cell Stem Cell, the team recently described the first patient treated with this approach.
Publications
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https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=enEZ0ZUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate