Douglas Hanahan was appointed Ludwig Distinguished Scholar at the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in January. Doug has made many landmark contributions to cancer biology and immunology. Working out of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the late 80s, he developed one of the first transgenic mouse models of cancer and used it to investigate the stages of cancer progression, the role of oncogenes in that process and the immune system’s response. Collaborating with the late Judah Folkman, he also used these mouse models to identify the “angiogenic switch” employed by tumors to generate new blood vessels. Their subsequent work in this area led to the development of new anti-angiogenic drugs. Doug’s seminal review The Hallmarks of Cancer, authored with Ludwig MIT Co-director Robert Weinberg and published in Cell in 2000, drew from all corners of basic cancer research to create a unifying conceptual framework for understanding tumor initiation and progression. It is widely regarded among the most influential publications of modern cancer biology. His laboratory continues to explore the stages and drivers of tumor progression and pharmacologic strategies to disrupt them.
This article appeared in the April 2020 issue of Ludwig Link. Click here to download a copy (1 MB).