Alexander Krasnitz

Biography

 Alexander Krasnitz and colleagues use mathematical and statistical tools to discover key genetic elements involved in cancer and to understand how cancer cells evolve. Array-based comparative genome hybridization, a technique honed in the Wigler lab, and, more recently, sequencing experiments, have revealed subtle patterns of frequent and widespread aberration in cancer genomes. Krasnitz hypothesizes that recurrent, aberrant genomic loci observed in a range of cancer types are under selection and therefore are enriched in important cancer genes. He has developed a novel, comprehensive methodology to discover such “cores” and has used it to analyze multiple genome data sets in breast, liver, ovarian, and prostate cancer. The results have been shared with cancer biology labs across CSHL, and they have been a key enabling agent of functional studies using mouse models and RNA interference. Krasnitz has begun to apply these novel statistical tools to the latest generation of experimental data, which have characterized tumor samples down to the level of single cells. By interpreting single-cell genomes, he and colleagues seek to learn how specific tumors evolve and how cancer cells migrate to invade adjacent tissues and metastasize. 

Research Interest

 Cancer Genomes