Thomas W. Kensler PhD

Dr. Thomas Kensler is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Chemical Biology at the Medical School of the University of Pittsburgh. He obtained his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin and at the National Cancer Institute. After 30 years on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, he moved his primary appointment to the University of Pittsburgh in 2010.

The goal of Dr. Kensler’s laboratory is to elucidate the biochemical and molecular mechanisms involved in the induction of cancer by chemicals to serve as a basis for the prevention, interruption or reversal of these processes in humans. One of the major mechanisms of protection against environmental carcinogenesis is the induction of enzymes involved in their metabolism, particularly those which facilitate their detoxication and elimination. Laboratory studies indicate that induction of these cytoprotective enzymes is a sufficient condition for obtaining chemoprevention and can be achieved in many target tissues by administering any of a diverse array of naturally-occurring and synthetic chemical agents. The Nrf2 signaling pathway is broadly activated by these classes of chemopreventive agents and leads to increased expression of genes that enhance carcinogen detoxication and diminish oxidative stress and inflammation.

A practical goal of Dr. Kensler’s research has been to develop the tools to test the hypothesis that activation of Nrf2 signaling is a useful strategy for chemoprevention in humans. His team conducted a series of “proof-of-principle” randomized clinical trials in populations at high risk for exposures to air- and food-borne toxins and carcinogens with oltipraz, chlorophyllin and broccoli sprout beverages rich in the phytochemical sulforaphane. They are now developing and validating biomarkers to assess the efficacy of broccoli-based interventions to mitigate the DNA damaging actions of reactive estrogen metabolites in the context of breast cancer prevention.

Dr. Kensler has received numerous awards including the AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention (2007), Society of Toxicology Translational Impact Award (2009) and the National Friendship Award, Beijing, People’s Republic of China (2011), which is the country’s highest award for foreign civilians. He has published over 350 research articles. He is a former chair of the NIH Chemo-Dietary Study Section and is on the editorial board of several journals.