Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) at Columbia University Medical Center was founded in 1911 as the Institute for Cancer Research. In 1972, it became an NCI-designated cancer center, and it was awarded comprehensive status in 1979. The HICCC is the University’s organizational component for the conduct of basic, clinical, and population-based cancer research and patient care.

The Center’s mission is to understand the biology of cancer and apply that knowledge to the design of cancer therapies and prevention strategies that reduce its incidence and progression. HICCC’s more than 240 members are drawn from six schools at Columbia and, joined with the cancer-related patient services provided at New York Presbyterian Hospital, form an extensive collaborative group of researchers and clinicians working to provide the best approaches for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of all types of cancer.

Research at HICCC is organized into eight research programs within three divisions. The Basic Science Division includes programs in Cancer Regulatory Networks and Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics. Programs in the Disease-Specific Division focus on Breast Cancer, Lymphoid Development and Malignancy, Prostate Cancer, and Neuro-Oncology. The Population Science Division’s programs include Cancer Epidemiology as well as Prevention, Control, and Disparities. These programs focus on different aspects of cancer from its molecular and cellular mechanisms through its unique behavior in different tissues to statistical aspects of its occurrence and treatment in large populations. The members of each program share a commitment to reduce cancer incidence and tumor progression and to improve the quality of life of those affected by cancer.

College of Physicians & Surgeons Columbia University

Comp

Anil Rustgi, MD
Director

1130 St. Nicholas Avenue
Room 508
New York, NY 10032

(212) 851-4764

Senior Leaders

Senior Leader	Title
Andrew Lassman, MD	Associate Director for Clinical Trials
Anil Rustgi, MD	Director and Principal Investigator
Dawn Hershman, MD, MS	Deputy Director
Emer Smyth, PhD	Associate Director for Administration
Jasmine McDonald, PhD	Co-Associate Director for Education and Training
Katherine Crew, MD, MS	Co-Associate Director for Education and Training
Lewis Silverman, MD	Associate Director for Pediatric Cancer
Liza Pon, PhD	Associate Director for Shared Resources
Mary Beth Terry, PhD	Associate Director for Population Science and Community Outreach
Stavroula Kousteni, PhD	Associate Director for Basic Research
Tannishtha Reya, PhD	Associate Director for Translation

Research Programs

Research Program	Program Leaders
Cancer Genomics and Epigenomics	Raul Rabadan, PhD; Susan Bates, MD; Chao Lu, PhD
Cancer Population Science	Chin Hur, MD, MPH; Adana Llanos, PhD, MPH
Precision Oncology and Systems Biology	Peter Sims, PhD; Gulam Manjij, MD; Kenneth Olive, PhD
Tumor Biology and Microenvironment	Michael Shen, PhD; Timothy Wang, MD; Barbara Pro, MD

Shared Resources

Category	Resource	Directors
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Confocal and Specialized Microscopy	Liza Pon, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Flow Cytometry	Remi Creusot, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Genetically Modified Mouse Models	Jianwen Que, MD, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Genomics and High Throughput Screening	Oliver Couronne, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Oncology Precision Therapeutics and Imaging Core	Kenneth Olive, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Proteomics and Structural Biology	Brent Stockwell, PhD
Cat 4: Clinical Research	Molecular Pathology	Hanina Hibshoosh, MD
Cat 6: Biostatistics	Cancer Biostatistics	Jianhua Hu, PhD

Last Updated

December 17, 2025