Sam Bakhoum

Sam Bakhoum made the landmark discovery, published in Nature in 2018, that chromosomal instability drives cancer metastasis through chronic activation of cGAS-STING innate immune signaling by micronuclei-derived cytoplasmic DNA. He demonstrated the paradox that the same innate immune pathway activated by CIN that normally triggers anti-tumor immunity is co-opted by cancer cells to promote invasive and metastatic behavior. His work established micronuclei as sources of cGAS-activating double-stranded DNA that create a chronic inflammatory state. He continues to define how CIN-driven inflammation shapes the metastatic cascade.