Executive Director of Hormel Institute part of expert team publishing review of cancer metastasis research

 Dr. Robert Clarke, executive director of The Hormel Institute University of Minnesota, joined Drs. Rakesh Kumar and Simak Ali to guest edit the September special issue in Cancer and Metastasis Reviews on “Coordinated Regulation of Dysregulated Pathways in Human Cancer – Beyond One-gene Approach.” The issue highlights work on metastasis from a series of leading scientists in the field. 

Dr. Clarke also contributed his own research article on a cancer systems biology approach to studying cancer metastasis, “A systems biology approach to discovering pathway signaling dysregulation in metastasis.” Cancer systems biology aims to understand cancer as an integrated system of genes, networks, and interactions rather than isolated molecular and cellular components. 

The print version will be published this month and all articles are published on-line with free access through November 17. 

The three guest editors are considered subject matter experts in their field. They gathered other leading researchers to contribute research on dysregulated pathways in human cancer and to give an update on the current state of research into this important area of human cancer. The final issue includes 27 articles. 

Dr. Clarke joined The Hormel Institute on August 31 and formerly co-directed the Breast Cancer Program at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was Vice President of Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) and Dean of Research at Georgetown University. He is an internationally recognized leader in breast cancer research and will lead the institute’s work to advance knowledge around the mechanisms of cancer development and to discover better ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer in its many forms.

Besides serving as Executive Director Dr. Clarke leads the Cancer Systems Biology section at The Hormel Institute and holds a faculty position with University of Minnesota Medical School.