Dr. Mark Rubin is recognized as a world leader in prostate cancer genomics and pathology. A board-certified pathologist with expertise in prostate cancer pathology and the translation of novel findings to clinical investigations. As a laboratory-based researcher, Dr. Rubin has more than 16 years experience in biomarker discovery and characterization.
A Co-PI of the NIH Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program’s Health Provider Organization award and a lead of efforts to establish a National Biobank of engaged participants. In his role as a scientific leader at Weill Cornell Medicine, he is the Founding Director of the recently established Englander Institute for Precision Medicine. He had primary responsibility for its scientific development and oversight for all genomics, computational cancer genomics, and biobanking activities related to the diagnosis and treatment of cancers.
Among his seminal observations in prostate cancer genomics and biomarker development, he has worked with Dr. Arul M. Chinnaiyan (University of Michigan) as Co-PI of a Biomarker Discovery Laboratory of the EDRN, and he has worked closely with Dr. Levi Garraway (Broad Institute) on whole genome and exome sequencing of prostate cancer. Dr. Rubin was the co-Senior Investigator of the first gene expression profiling study in prostate cancer (Nature, 2001) and the first whole genome and exome DNA sequencing studies in prostate cancer (Nature, 2011 and Nature Genetics, 2012). This work led to the discovery and development of several prostate cancer biomarkers.
Working with Dr. Chinnaiyan, Dr. Rubin played a pivotal role in the landmark discovery of recurrent ETS rearrangements in prostate cancer, most often involving TMPRSS2:ERG (Science, 2005). Our recent genomics work has defined a SPOP mutant subclass of prostate cancer, as defined by a high susceptibility to double-stranded DNA damage (Cell, 2013). Additionally, our discovery of AURKA/MYCN amplified aggressive prostate cancer (Cancer Discovery, 2013) has led to a Phase II Trial of MLN8237 in Patients with Metastatic Castrate Resistant and Neuroendocrine PCa (NCT01799278).