Charles Sawyers

Charles Sawyers, MD, is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and holds the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair in Human Oncology and Pathogenesis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). As Chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, he focuses on molecularly targeted cancer therapies, particularly in chronic myeloid leukemia, prostate cancer, and other malignancies, leading to FDA-approved inhibitors. His lab at MSK bridges genomic discoveries with clinical applications.

• MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Licensed to practice at MSK since 2020

Research Areas: His work emphasizes prostate cancer genomics, lineage plasticity, androgen receptor signaling, and tumor microenvironment interactions. Recent studies explore JAK/STAT inflammatory signaling in drug resistance and NRG1 as a therapeutic target.

Scientific Contributions: Dr. Sawyers has pioneered

• Identification of cell signaling components in cancer growth
• Development of targeted inhibitors
• Single-cell analysis of prostate tumor heterogeneity

His publications highlight lineage plasticity, FOXA1 mutations, and neuroendocrine transitions in prostate cancer.

Leadership & Collaborations: He leads the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and collaborates with the Department of Medicine, Center for Experimental Therapeutics, and the Alan and Sandra Gerry Metastasis Center. His team includes researchers working on drug development, tumor evolution, and immunotherapy strategies.