David S. Pellman

David S. Pellman, MD is the Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatric Oncology and Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). He leads research into cell division mechanisms, genome stability, and cancer biology, focusing on how mitotic errors drive genomic instability in cancer. His work spans yeast, tissue culture models, and genetically engineered mice, integrating genetics, live-cell imaging, and biochemical approaches.

• Affiliations: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, HHMI
• Education: MD from University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (1986), postdoctoral training at Whitehead Institute (MIT), DFCI, and Children’s Hospital Boston

Research Focus: Pellman’s lab investigates chromosome segregation defects in cancer, centrosome abnormalities, aneuploidy, and mechanisms like chromothripsis that generate genomic complexity. They pioneered methods such as Look-Seq to link cellular morphology with genomics. Key projects include studying micronuclei-induced chromosomal breaks, cytoskeletal roles in mitosis, and drug targets exploiting cancer cell vulnerabilities.

Publications: Over 150 peer-reviewed articles, including high-impact studies on chromothripsis mechanisms, CRISPR-induced genome instability, and nuclear envelope dynamics. Recent work explores how mitotic errors create DNA breaks and drive cancer evolution.

• Awards: HHMI Investigator (2008), AACR Academy Fellow (2024), AAAS Fellow, multiple NIH and foundation grants
• Labs/Teams: Pellman Lab at Dana-Farber, collaborating with HHMI and Harvard Medical School