Ralph Scully, MBBS, PhD

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Academic Titles

Professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Research Program Affiliation

Member, Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics

Member, Breast Cancer

Research Abstract

We study the relationships between homologous recombination (HR), genomic instability and hereditary breast/ovarian cancer predisposition. Our work has revealed new functions for the major breast/ovarian cancer susceptibility genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, in regulating HR at sites of stalled replication. In recent work, we have elucidated the mechanisms underlying certain characteristic “rearrangement signatures” in BRCA1-linked cancers. The elucidation of stalled fork repair pathways that are controlled by BRCA1 and BRCA2 may help to identify promising new biomarkers and new therapeutic approaches in BRCA-linked breast and ovarian cancer.