Cyrus M. Ghajar MS, PhD

Dr. Cyrus Ghajar is an assistant member in the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Division of Public Health Sciences. He studied bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley before moving on to Stanford University to earn an MS in materials science and engineering. He culminated his studies at the University of California, Irvine where he received his MS and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering. He now directs the Laboratory for the Study of Metastatic Microenvironments (LSM2) in the Hutch’s Translational Research Program.

Broadly, he is interested in how “foreign” tissue microenvironments influence the behavior of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs). Specifically, his laboratory is working to understand how tissues regulate DTC dormancy, how the dormant niche contributes to therapeutic resistance, and how local and systemic changes impact the dormant niche and foster DTC re-emergence. His belief is that solving these puzzles will allow the development of therapeutic regimens that eradicate dormant DTCs before they can develop into full-blown metastases.