Molecular Pharmacology Program

The Michael Kharas Lab

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Research

Pictured: Michael Kharas
Michael G. Kharas, PhD

The Kharas lab is working to identify critical pathways in both normal and leukemic hematopoietic cells.

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VIDEO | 02:13

Inside My Lab: Michael Kharas

Go inside the lab of Michael Kharas from SKI’s Molecular Pharmacology Program.
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The Kharas Lab Group

Featured News

In the Lab
Illustration of a fish inside a bubble-like structure. The fish has strands of genetic material coming from its mouth. Outside the bubble is a worm-like creature with an open mouth, ready to gobble up the fish.
Researchers Discover New Cancer Cell Vulnerability: Droplets in the Nucleus

SKI researchers have learned how tiny droplets prevent a cancer-causing type of messenger RNA from being degraded in leukemia cells.
In the Lab
Kayvan Keshari
Fructose Could Play a Role in Targeting Leukemia

Leukemia cells metabolize fructose in a way that could make them easier to target with drugs.
In the Lab
An illustration of a samurai riding a horse along a strand of RNA. The samurai’s sword is changing the letter A to the letter I.
Novel Tool Enables Study of Rare Acute Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells

MSK investigators have used a lab tool originally developed to study fly nerve cells to uncover new findings about acute myeloid leukemia.

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Publications

Savino AM, Fernandes SI, Olivares O, Zemlyansky A, Cousins A, Markert EK, Barel S, Geron I, Frishman L, Birger Y, Eckert C, Tumanov S, MacKay G, Kamphorst JJ, Herzyk P, Fernández-García J, Abramovich I, Mor I, Bardini M, Barin E, Janaki-Raman S, Cross JR, Kharas MG, Gottlieb E, Izraeli S, Halsey C Metabolic adaptation of acute lymphoblastic leukemia to the central nervous system microenvironment is dependent on Stearoyl CoA desaturase..Nat Cancer. 2020 Oct;1(10):998-1009. doi: 10.1038/s43018-020-00115-2. Epub 2020 Sep 28. [PMID: 33479702]

Cheng Y*, Xie W*, Pickering BF, Chu KL, Savino AM, Yang X, Luo H, Nguyen DTT,  Mo S,  Barin E, Velleca A, Rohwetter T, Patel DJ,  Jaffrey SR, Kharas MG*. N6-methyladenosine on mRNA facilitates a phase-separated nuclear body that suppresses myeloid leukemic differentiation Cancer Cell. July 2021. 

Jeong S, Savino AM, Chirayil R, Cheng Y, Barin E, Park SM, Schurer A, Mullarky E, Cantley LC, Kharas MG*, Keshari KR*. Serine synthesis pathway flux is essential for acute myeloid leukemia cells to proliferate in fructose-rich conditions. Cell Metab. 5 January 2021, Pages 145-159. 

Cheng Y, Luo H, Izzo F, Pickering BF, Nguyen D, Byers R, Schurer A, Gourkanti S, Bruning J, Vu L, Jaffrey S, Landau D, Kharas MG*. RNA methylation maintains hematopoietic stem cell identity and symmetric commitment. Cell Reports. 2019 August 13. 7:1703-11716

Cheng Y, Luo H, Kharas MG. Rubbing Out Leukemia Stem Cells by Erasing the Eraser. Cell Stem Cell.2020 Jul 2;27(1):3-5.

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People

Pictured: Michael Kharas

Michael G. Kharas, PhD

  • Cancer biologist Michael Kharas studies RNA regulators of self-renewal in both normal and leukemic hematopoiesis.
  • PhD, University of California Irvine
[email protected]
Email Address

Members

Tatiana Erazo Andrade
Tatiana Erazo Andrade

Research Scholar

Mandy Chan

Research Technician

Kathryn Chang

Research Technician

Karen Chu
Karen Chu
Chiara Evans
Chiara Evans
Grace Han

Research Technician

Florisela Herrejon Chavez
Florisela Herrejon Chavez

Graduate Student

Takeshi Irie
Takeshi Irie

Assistant Attending, Anesthesiology and Critical Care

Michael Kharas, PhD
Michael Kharas

Associate Member

Hanzhi Luo
Hanzhi Luo

Research Fellow

Diu Nguyen
Diu Nguyen

Research Scholars

Sun Mi Park
Sun Mi Park

Research Associate

Angela Savino
Angela Savino
GSK Student
Isaac Wakiro
Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson

Administrative Assistant

Xueqin Xie

Research Scholar

Xuejing Yang
Xuejing Yang
Lab Alumni
Cynthia Almonte
Cynthia Almonte

Administrative Assistant

Elianna Amin

Research Fellow

Ersilia Barin
Ersilia Barin

Graduate Student at Weill Cornell

Trevor Barlowe

Research Technician

Aaron Chang

Graduate Student

Yuanming Cheng
Yuanming Cheng

Research Scholars

Timothy Chou
Timothy Chou

Research Technician

Arthur Chow
Arthur Chow

Research Technician

Pooja Desai

Lab Intern

Gerard Minuesa Dinares , PhD
Gerard Minuesa Dinares

Biotech

Kim Do
Kim Do

Technician, Ly Vu Lab, BC Cancer Agency

Saroj Gourkanti
Saroj Gourkanti

Graduate Student at University of California, San Diego

Tzu-Chieh Kate Ho
Tzu-Chieh Kate Ho

Research Scholar

Ming Jiang

Graduate Student

Rachel Okabe

Lab Intern

Camila Prieto
Camila Prieto

Graduate Student

Thomas Rohwetter
Thomas Rohwetter
Alex Schurer
Alex Schurer

Medical Student at Albert Einstein

James Taggart

Research Technician

Patrick Tivnan
Patrick Tivnan

Research Technician

Anthony Velleca
Anthony Velleca
Ly Vu
Ly Vu

Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Career Development Award (2017)
  • Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation ‘A’ Award (2016)
  • American Society of Hematology Junior Faculty Scholar Award (2011)
  • Kimmel Scholar Award (2013)
  • V-Scholar Award (2013)

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

Career Opportunities

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Research Technician

As a Research Technician you will perform research activities in collaboration with internal/external personnel to complete science-based projects. You will normally receive detailed instructions while making observations, analyzing data and interpreting results according to laboratory procedures. The Research Technician will provide support to all technical/research staff and postdocs.

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Michael G. Kharas discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • 858 Therapeutics, Inc.
    Ownership / Equity Interests; Provision of Services
  • AstraZeneca
    Provision of Services
  • Kumquat Biosciences
    Provision of Services

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2021 through disclosure submission in spring 2022). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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