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Todd Golub is director of the Ó³»­´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard, and a founding core member of the institute. A world-renowned physician-scientist who trained as a pediatric oncologist, Golub pioneered the application of genomics to cancer biology, diagnosis, and treatment, with enduring impact on pediatric cancer care.

Throughout his career, Golub has been a champion for free, open, and rapid sharing of large-scale datasets and tools to accelerate biomedical research and maximize impact for patients. He is deeply committed to patient-focused research and fostering the growth of early-career researchers. 

Golub is a national thought leader and advocate for cross-sector collaboration and for building modern, national-scale data and research infrastructure that can rapidly and efficiently translate biomedical science into benefits for human health. He is a leading voice on how to design next-generation research systems that can scale and adapt as science evolves. 

Golub engages with scientific leaders, policymakers, industry leaders, and philanthropists on how to shape the future of biomedical research and translate discovery into patient benefit. He brings decades of experience working across academic medical centers, nonprofits, industry, and federal agencies.

Roots in cancer research

Todd Golub is one of the first researchers to use genomic approaches to molecularly characterize human tumors, laying the foundation for the use of genomics to classify, diagnose, and treat cancer. Early in his career as a pediatric oncologist and cancer researcher, Golub made key discoveries on the genetic and molecular origins of the most common form of childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). These fundamental insights led to changes in treatment that are now the standard of care.

Golub’s innovative use of gene-expression analysis to classify tumors catalyzed the creation of new genomic tools and approaches that have had a lasting impact on cancer research and drug discovery. He led teams that developed several genomics technologies routinely used by the cancer research community. 

Golub has mentored numerous trainees over the span of his career, empowering them and other young scientists to take risks and pursue bold ideas with extraordinary potential.

He joined the faculty of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in 1997. At the same time, he served as the leader of cancer genomics at the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research. As a founding core member of the Ó³»­´«Ã½, Golub helped launch the organization in 2004 and established its Cancer Program. He served as director of Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s Cancer Program for 17 years, and helped create a nimble, entrepreneurial, and supportive scientific community where researchers at all career levels and from laboratories across the greater Boston area can pursue transformative ideas in cancer. He also served as the Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s chief scientific officer for a decade before being named the institute’s director in January 2021. In addition, he is currently the Charles A. Dana Investigator in Human Cancer Genetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. He was also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 2002 to 2019.

Golub is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Erasmus Hematology Award, the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research, and the Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation from the American Philosophical Society. Golub is an elected member of the US National Academy of Medicine and the US National Academy of Sciences.

Golub has served on the scientific advisory boards of many organizations, including serving as chair of the advisory boards of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, and of the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute.

Beyond his scientific work, Golub is a passionate supporter of the arts, including visual arts and music. He believes that art and science resonate with each other, both fueled by creativity. He launched the Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s Artist-in-Residence Program in 2006, which enables scientists and artists to work side-by-side, influencing and learning from each other in pursuit of innovation. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Golub received his B.A. from Carleton College and his M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency, and fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.