Shyamala Maheswaran PhD

Shyamala Maheswaran is a Professor of Surgery at the Harvard Medical School and a Molecular Biologist of Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Devoted to research on breast cancer, Dr. Maheswaran worked in both the academic and biotech worlds before joining Mass General’s Division of Surgical Oncology and the Center for Cancer Research. Her laboratory is investigating molecular mechanisms that govern the growth and tumorigenesis (production of new tumors) of the mammary gland.

As the biomedical leader of a multidisciplinary team that includes bioengineers and clinicians as well as molecular biologists, Dr. Maheswaran is co-directing a project to isolate extraordinarily rare circulating tumor cells from the blood of patients with cancer. These cells hold clues to understanding the process of cancer metastasis and monitoring the effectiveness of new, targeted cancer therapies.