Julio Aguirre-Ghiso

Julio Aguirre-Ghiso is a pioneering researcher in tumor dormancy who discovered the p38/ERK signaling ratio as a key molecular switch governing whether disseminated tumor cells enter quiescence or proliferate at metastatic sites. His laboratory at Albert Einstein College of Medicine has defined the concept of the dormancy niche in bone marrow and other organs, identifying signals from the perivascular microenvironment that maintain cancer cell quiescence for years to decades. His work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of why cancers can recur many years after apparently successful treatment and is informing new therapeutic strategies to either maintain dormancy or eliminate dormant cells.