Lydia Finley

Lydia Finley, PhD, is a Researcher at the Cell Biology Program within Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) and holds the Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chair. She is also affiliated with the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and leads a laboratory focused on the interplay between cellular metabolism and cell fate decisions.

• PhD, Harvard University
• BS, Yale University

Her research investigates how metabolic pathways regulate stem cell differentiation and cancer cell survival, with particular emphasis on metabolite availability, chromatin landscape modifications, and gene expression programs. Key areas include non-canonical TCA cycle activity, amino acid metabolism in pluripotent cells, and metabolic vulnerabilities in cancer stem cells.

Dr. Finley’s recent work highlights the role of α-ketoglutarate, pyruvate dependencies, and non-canonical metabolic circuits in cell identity maintenance. These studies span disciplines such as Cancer Biology, Stem Cell Metabolism, and Epigenetic Regulation.

Scientific Awards:

• Tsuneko and Reiji Okazaki Award (2024)
• New York Stem Cell Foundation – Robertson Investigator (2023)
• Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research (2022)
• National Cancer Institute R37 MERIT Award (2020)
• Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Cancer Research (2020)
• Searle Scholar (2018)
• Dale F. Frey Breakthrough Award (2017)

Dr. Finley advises Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows, including current members Abigail Xie, Monika Komza, and Angela Montero. Her lab explores metabolic flux, nutrient sensing, and metabolite-epigenetic crosstalk, with implications for both developmental biology and cancer therapeutics. Lab Affiliations include MSKCC’s Cell Biology Program and collaborations with the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School.