Scott Armstrong, M.D., Ph.D.
Boston Children's Hospital
Harvard Medical School | Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Scott Armstrong studies the mechanisms of cancer development, focusing on leukemia. One major interest of this lab is the relationship between leukemia, normal hematopoietic stem cells and the various hematopoietic cells of origin of leukemia.
The Armstrong lab is also studying the role of histone modifications and chromosome structure as a critical initial step in cancer development and how these mechanisms can be targeted therapeutically. This work has prompted a search for therapies that can reverse this process and eradicate cancer cells, and has led to the development of new therapies that are now being tested in patients.
Biosketch
Dr. Armstrong is the Chairman of Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital. He was previously the Director of the Center for Epigenetics Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the Weill Cornell Medical College where he initiated a research program in cancer epigenetics that has made significant contributions to the understanding of cancer biology.
Scott Armstrong received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He performed his residency and fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School.
The major focus of Armstrong's career has been on delineating the biology of childhood cancers, particularly leukemia. His work has led to the development of new therapeutic approaches for multiple types of cancer that are now being tested. His work has been recognized by multiple awards including the Till and McCulloch Award from the International Society of Experimental Hematology, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research, and the Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology. Armstrong is an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the Association of American Physicians (AAP), and a fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Science.