Scott Dixon

Scott Dixon co-discovered ferroptosis as a distinct form of iron-dependent oxidative cell death triggered by erastin, which inhibits the system Xc- cystine/glutamate antiporter and depletes intracellular glutathione, leading to catastrophic lipid peroxidation and cell membrane rupture. His work established that ferroptosis is mechanistically distinct from apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy, and demonstrated that drug-resistant cancer cells in a therapy-induced persister state are selectively vulnerable to ferroptosis induction. He identified RSL3 as a direct GPX4 inhibitor that triggers ferroptosis. His discovery has opened a major new therapeutic avenue for eliminating therapy-resistant cancer cells through oxidative lipid damage.