Julio Aguirre-Ghiso

Julio Aguirre-Ghiso is the foremost authority on tumor dormancy, having established the molecular framework for understanding how disseminated tumor cells enter and maintain quiescence in distant organs for years or decades before reactivating to form metastases. His discovery that the ratio of p38/ERK signaling determines dormancy versus proliferation provided the first molecular switch controlling dormant-to-proliferative transition. He identified NR2F1 as a master transcription factor of dormancy and showed that TGF-beta2 in the bone marrow niche induces DTC quiescence. His dormancy signature biomarkers are being developed for clinical prediction of late metastatic recurrence.