Robert Weinberg

Robert Weinberg is a founding figure of molecular oncology who first isolated and cloned the RAS oncogene from human cancer DNA and demonstrated that a single oncogene can transform normal cells to a tumorigenic phenotype. He also cloned the RB retinoblastoma tumor suppressor gene, establishing the two-hit hypothesis for tumor suppressors in cancer. His laboratory subsequently characterized the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a driver of cancer invasion, metastasis, and cancer stem cell states. Together with Douglas Hanahan he authored the Hallmarks of Cancer — the most cited paper in cancer biology.