Paul W Furlow, MD, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Academic Titles

Instructor, Surgery, Harvard Medical School

Research Program Affiliation

Member, Lung Cancer

Member, Angiogenesis, Invasion and Metastasis

Research Abstract

I am a full-time faculty member at Harvard Medical School (HMS), director of the Mass General Lung Metastasis Research Laboratory within the Thoracic Surgery Research Labs, and Center for Precision Cancer Medicine research fellow at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I have a broad scientific background in cancer biology, with specific training and expertise in molecular metastasis biology, in vivo tumor selection, mechanosensitive channel biology, functional genomics, and computational biology. As an early-career thoracic surgeon-scientist, my observations in the operating room translate to my lab’s work characterizing the molecular and cellular tumor-immune signaling relationships that drive lung cancer recurrence, progression, and metastasis after lung resection. A major focus of my research is on understanding signaling programs driving tumor spread through air spaces (STAS) in lung adenocarcinoma. In close collaboration with Dr. Michael Yaffe’s lab within the Koch Institute at MIT, I study inflammation-mediated bidirectional signaling between lung cancer cells and the tumor immune microenvironment, with the goal of improving surgical and non-surgical treatments for lung cancer. In these roles, I am fortunate to be co-leader of a team of postdoctoral fellows, surgery residents, research assistants, medical students, and undergraduate researchers who are driven by a similar mission. My clinical focus is on the surgical management of benign and malignant diseases of the lung, airway, pleura, chest wall, and mediastinum. I have a particular interest in advancing minimally invasive thoracic surgical technologies towards improved patient outcomes. In addition, I am the surgical co-Investigator on several multidisciplinary (radiology, oncology, and pathology) collaborations across MGH and MIT that are focused on improving the detection, treatment, and locoregional recurrence rates of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). As an Instructor in Surgery at HMS, I also teach undergraduates and medical students, and train residents and cardiothoracic surgery fellows in the clinic, on the wards, and in the operating rooms. In summary, I am an academic surgeon dedicated to advancing our understanding of lung cancer progression through my scientific and clinical expertise, collaborative efforts, leadership, and teaching to both gain insight into basic biological processes and reduce the overall impact of lung cancer.