Carlo M. Croce

Director, Institute of Genetics; The John W. Wolfe Chair in Human Cancer Genetics; Professor and Chairman, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics. Instrumental in establishing the linkage between the abnormal karyotypes observed in cancer and the carcinogenic process. Established the direct and causative association of chromosomal translocations with the molecular mechanism of oncogene activation, and discovered the involvement of microRNAs in cancer. Showed that breakpoints in chromosomal translocations mark genes important in the causation of cancer and that translocations are guideposts for finding novel cancer genes. Also showed that translocations are caused by errors in the recombinational mechanisms of the immune system.