Einstein Experts

Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D.

Professor, Cell Biology, Medicine and Oncology

Founding director, Cancer Dormancy and Tumor Microenvironment Institute

Co-Director, Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center

Co-Leader, Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program

Cancer biologyCancer dormancy and the tumor microenvironmentCancer metastasisStress signaling

Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D., is an international leader in cancer cell dormancy and metastasis. He has helped lead a major shift in the cancer biology field by investigating how cancer cells hibernate, undetected, for long periods of time and what causes them to suddenly awaken to seed deadly, treatment-resistant metastases.

Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso’s work is revealing ways to maintain residual cancer-cell dormancy, kill dormant cancer cells, and identify biomarkers for cancer recurrence. He has founded a start-up company, HiberCell, which is developing treatments to prevent relapse.

Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso is founding director of the Cancer Dormancy and Tumor Microenvironment Institute at the Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center. The goal of the institute is to integrate research from a range of specialties—including the biology of aging, stem cells, epigenetics, and systems biology—to address how residual cancer cells, aging, lifestyle, genetics, and treatments influence relapse across all cancers.

Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso is a reviewer for top-tier scientific journals and for federal, private, and international agencies. His work has been published in Nature, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Cancer, Science, and Cancer Cell. He is also president of the Metastasis Research Society and has served at several leadership levels at American Association for Cancer Research.