Dr. Giannakis is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a medical oncologist at the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Associate Member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. His research focuses on understanding the pathogenesis, molecular epidemiology and tumor-immune microenvironment of colorectal cancer and translating these findings into novel targeted and immune-based therapies for patients.
Dr. Giannakis studied Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology at the University of Toronto, obtained his M.D and Ph.D degree in Biology and Biomedical Sciences from Washington University in Saint Louis, completed his Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and was a hematology/oncology fellow at the Dana-Farber/Partners Cancer Care Program.
Lishan Fang, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Lishan is studying the biological functions of RNF43 in colorectal cancer by using organoid models and aims to discover better therapeutic strategies for patients whose tumors harbor RNF43 mutations.
Carino Gurjao, M.Sc. Bioinformatics Analyst
Paris-born and raised, Carino relocated to Boston in 2018 to join the Giannakis lab after having completed his M.Sc.Eng studies. He previously was a visiting student at MIT in 2016-2017. He is integrating sequencing data with clinical and epidemiological information such as lifestyle and diet habits in order to gain insights into novel prevention strategies and therapies for this disease.
Dane Ford-Roshon, B.Sc. Research Associate
Dane joined the Giannakis Lab in the summer of 2020 after previously researching the role of mitochondria in neurodegenerative disease. He is interested in leveraging organoid techniques to model cancers and in developing targeted molecular and immune therapies. Outside of the lab, Dane enjoys running, cycling, and composing original poetry about biology and immunology.
Max Russo, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow
Max is researching the impact of lifestyle exposures on colorectal cancer using organoid models and CRISPR-Cas9 editing. He is also interested in evaluating the effects of specific colorectal cancer mutations on tumors as well as the immune system. In his spare time, he enjoys running, reading and the Red Sox.
Maximilien Grandclaudon Ph.D. Postdoctoral fellow
Maximilien was trained as a human immunologist in Paris specializing in DC-T cell communication and subsequently had the chance of working as a postdoc at a pharmaceutical company, assessing drug effects on immune cells . Enriched by these two experiences, Maximilien joined the Giannakis lab to develop immune-oncology models of predictive value regarding colon cancer physiopathology and drug response. On his free time Maximilien enjoys hiking and biking in the mountains, particularly in the French Jura , where he grew up.
Past laboratory members
Casey O'Brien, B.Sc. Research Associate
Casey is currently pursuing her MD at Dartmouth College.