Research Focus: Massimo Loda, MD is the David D. Thompson Professor and Chairman of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine; and Pathologist-in-Chief in the New York-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Campus.
Dr. Loda directed molecular pathology laboratories in various institutions and served as interim director of molecular pathology at Weill Cornell Medicine-Presbyterian Hospital. He has worked as a physician-scientist, performing clinical work as a genito-urinary pathologist as well as a molecular pathologist. For years, his laboratory has focused on metabolic alterations in prostate tumorigenesis, with specific interest in lipid metabolism and its regulation. This has led to the identification of potential vulnerabilities in the metabolic reprogramming of lipid synthesis that occurs in tumors in general and in prostate cancer in particular. Clinical trials with inhibitors of the rate limiting Fatty Acid Synthase enzyme are currently underway. His approach is multidisciplinary, utilizing cell lines, orthotopic tumor xenograft, genetically engineered murine models, and human tumors. More recently, his laboratory has focused on the tumor microenvironment, particularly on prostate stroma. While progression from normal prostatic epithelium to invasive cancer is driven by molecular alterations, tumor cells and cells in the cancer microenvironment are co-dependent and co-evolve. His lab is currently studying the molecular and metabolic characteristics of stromal cells to dissect the mechanism through which mesenchymal cells affect prostate cancer progression and the metastatic process.
