Amit Laboratory

Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Dr. Amit's aim is to inform key areas of cancer research, including the prevention and treatment of solid tumors. His research focuses on mechanisms used by the nervous system to promote tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis.

Dr. Amit holds a clinical background as a head and neck surgeon trained in the department of Head and Neck Surgery, and he obtained a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel.

He was recruited by the Department of Head and Neck Surgery to establish a Neural Regulation of Cancer section in a research program dedicated to studying the tumor microenvironment. He has developed novel modeling systems of the neural niche in the tumor microenvironment both in vitro and in vivo using syngeneic mouse models and imaging systems. He also has significant prior publications defining the role of immune cells in cancer dissemination along nerves.

Dr. Amit's long-term goal is to unveil the microenvironment-driven mechanisms that support tumor growth and to develop measures to target these pathways.

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Neurodegeneration and cancer: What’s the link?

Recent studies have shown that age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease occur less frequently in cancer survivors, but little is known about the role of the nervous system in cancer progression. Cancerwise speaks to Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Head and Neck Surgery, to help clarify this potential link and to learn about the work his lab is doing to help further our understanding of cancer neuroscience, a rapidly emerging field that combines many aspects of cancer biology, aging, immunology and neurobiology.

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