Karuna Ganesh

Karuna Ganesh, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor and Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). Her research focuses on understanding molecular mechanisms driving metastasis in colorectal cancer, particularly regenerative plasticity and metastasis stem cells (MetScs). She leads the Karuna Ganesh Lab within the Molecular Pharmacology Program, utilizing patient-derived organoids, mouse models, and single-cell technologies to study therapy resistance and metastasis. Dr. Ganesh completed her MD/PhD at the University of Cambridge, followed by residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and fellowship at MSKCC.

Her lab investigates four core areas: 1) phenotypic plasticity during metastasis; 2) stromal-immune interactions; 3) therapeutic target identification; and 4) clinical translation through collaborations. Key achievements include developing an organoid platform for personalized chemoradiation testing, discovering L1CAM's role in metastasis initiation, and defining progressive plasticity pathways in metastatic progression.

Dr. Ganesh's awards span 2004-2024 including the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, NIH MERIT Award, and Pershing Square Sohn Prize. She holds affiliations with the Center for Stem Cell Biology, Alan & Sandra Gerry Metastasis Center, and Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School. Current lab members include 14 researchers across postdocs, technicians, and students working on computational biology, experimental oncology, and translational research.