Arvin Dar

Arvin Dar is a Professor and the Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Cancer Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Sloan Kettering Institute, where he also serves as vice director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics. He leads the Arvin Dar Lab, which focuses on developing chemical tools and approaches to investigate signal transduction and cancer mechanisms, with specific applications in drug development and target discovery.

Dr. Dar earned his BSc in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario, completed his PhD at the University of Toronto, and received postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. Prior to joining MSK in June 2023, he led an independent research group at Mount Sinai in NYC for approximately 10 years.

His research focuses on developing small molecule modulators and molecular glues against challenging targets including kinases, GTPases, and scaffolding proteins. Current projects include developing molecular glues to target RAS-MAPK driven cancers, creating an integrated platform for personalized liver cancer therapeutics, and exploring novel therapeutic space for colorectal cancer through chemical genetic approaches. His work integrates genetics, biochemistry, structural biology, and small molecule discovery to develop tools that modulate cell signaling networks for both mechanistic exploration and therapeutic applications.

Dr. Dar's publication record demonstrates a clear progression toward developing innovative chemical tools to target previously undruggable proteins, with particular emphasis on conformational control of protein complexes and molecular glue technologies. His recent work has increasingly focused on translational applications, moving discoveries from basic mechanism to potential therapeutic interventions, particularly in liver cancer and RAS-driven malignancies.

• Mark Foundation for Cancer Research ASPIRE Award
• Friedman Brain Institute Scholar
• Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators
• Pew-Stewart Scholars for Cancer Research
• Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award
• NIH Director's New Innovator Award
• Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Dr. Dar mentors a diverse team of graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff scientists in his laboratory. He has co-founded two biotechnology companies, Nested Therapeutics and Prometeo Therapeutics, to advance new therapeutic approaches for challenging disease targets. His lab maintains collaborations with multiple institutions and receives funding from various sources including the NIH and private foundations to support innovative research in chemical biology and cancer therapeutics.

The Arvin Dar Lab operates within the Chemical Biology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with strong connections to the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. The lab maintains state-of-the-art facilities for chemical synthesis, structural biology, and cellular and molecular biology, enabling a multidisciplinary approach to cancer research. Team members work collaboratively across projects focused on kinase biology, molecular glues, and cancer signaling networks, with particular emphasis on translating basic discoveries into potential therapeutic applications.