Benjamin Ebert, M.D., Ph.D.

Benjamin Ebert is an institute member of the Broad Institute, the George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and the chair of medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

The Ebert laboratory focuses on the molecular basis and treatment of hematologic malignancies, with a particular focus on myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). In large-scale genetic analyses of patient samples, the lab has identified somatic mutations that predict prognosis and response to therapies in MDS patients, characterized a pre-malignant state of hematopoietic cells, and derived the molecular ontogeny of genetic lesions in myeloid malignancies. In addition to human genetic studies, the lab has elucidated the biological basis of transformation of hematopoietic cells by these somatic mutations and developed novel in vivo models to study myeloid malignancies. The lab employs genetic and small molecule screens to identify novel therapeutic targets and small molecules for the treatment of hematologic malignancies and sickle cell disease.

In collaboration with the Broad Institute Proteomics Platform, the Ebert lab elucidated the mechanism of action of lenalidomide, a derivative of thalidomide. Lenalidomide and related drugs modulate the function of an E3 ubiquitin ligase, inducing drug-dependent degradation of specific substrates that are essential for the survival of multiple myeloma and MDS cells, representing the first drugs that bind and modulate the function of an E3 ubiquitin ligase.

Ebert received a bachelor's degree from Williams College, a doctorate from Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before pursuing postdoctoral research at the Broad Institute. Ebert is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.

October 2018