Professor Dipanjan Chowdhury is a Co-Director of Center for BRCA and Related Genes, a Svanberg Professor of Radiation Oncology, and Chief of the Division of Radiation and Genomic Stability at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

He also holds a position as an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard & MIT. Professor Chowdhury’s research focuses broadly on genomic stability and DNA repair in cancer. He has deep expertise in non-coding RNAs and is a leader in the field of utilising non-coding RNAs in early detection of cancer. More specifically, Professor Chowdhury’s research involves microRNA (miRNAs) -extremely stable molecules that are easily recovered and detected in a variety of tissues and body fluids including blood serum. The use of serum miRNA expression patterns as predictive markers for any pathology at the organismal level is a rapidly emerging field.

Professor Chowdhury’ has identified an evolutionarily conserved serum miRNA signature that predicts long term impact of total body irradiation when measured within 24 hours of exposure. He demonstrated that miRNAs can serve as functional dosimeters of radiation, representing a potential breakthrough in early assessment of radiation-induced haematopoietic damage and timely use of medical countermeasures to mitigate the long-term impact of radiation. More recently, using a machine-learning approach, Professor Chowdhury and colleagues have identified a serum miRNA signature that distinguishes benign versus malignant ovarian carcinomas prior to surgery. He has utilised this signature for the early detection of ovarian cancer and is currently undertaking clinical studies to use the same methodology for early detection of fatal malignancies like pancreatic cancer.