Landa Lab – Brigham and Women's Hospital

RESEARCH

We study basic and translational aspects of thyroid cancer genetics and biology using a variety of techniques in human samples, cell systems and animal models.

The current interests of the lab comprise:

Understanding the role of TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase) promoter mutations in thyroid cancer progression, including the mechanisms of transcriptional deregulation and its downstream consequences in thyroid cancer biology.
Identifying genomic determinants of malignancy and evolution in thyroid nodules and cancers, particularly those affecting the regulatory elements of the genome.
Dissecting the underpinnings of disrupted histone acetyltransferase activity in anaplastic thyroid cancer transformation.
Providing preclinical rationale that can inform novel and individualized therapies for anaplastic thyroid cancer patients.

Our aim is to produce scientific knowledge of the highest quality while achieving a healthy work-life balance. We support each other, we share ideas, resources and experiences, and we celebrate our individual and collective accomplishments.

LAB MEMBERS

Iñigo Landa, PhD

Principal Investigator

Pedro Seabra, MSc

Research Assistant

Sheida Shokohyar, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow

Lucy (Soo Y.) Im, BS

Research Volunteer

Diego Claro de Mello, BS

Visiting PhD Student

CLINICAL COLLABORATORS

Theodora Pappa, MD, PhD

Onco-Endocrinologist at BWH/DFCI

Athanasios Bikas, MD

Endocrinologist at BWH

FORMER MEMBERS

Jess (Jingzhu) Hao, MSc

Was: Research Assistant

Then: PhD Student, UMass Boston

Amy LoTemplio

Was: Summer Student

Then: Medicine’25, SUNY Upstate

Chisom Unegbu

Was: Summer Student

Then: Biology’22, UMass Dartmouth

Cait Thornton, PhD

Was: Postdoctoral Fellow

Then: Medicine’26, University of Birmingham

Sara Gil-Bernabé, MSc

Was: Visiting PhD Student

Then: PhD Student, Universidad de Valladolid

Jacob Haase, PhD

Was: Postdoctoral Fellow

Then: Postdoctoral Fellow, DFCI/Broad

Talia Gebhard, BA

Was: Research Assistant

Then: Medicine’27, Drexler University

PUBLICATIONS

LAB PUBLICATIONS

Landa I, Cabanillas ME. Genomic alterations in thyroid cancer: biological and clinical insights. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2024 Feb;20(2):93-110. PMID: 38049644.
Landa I, Thornton CEM, Xu B, Haase J, Krishnamoorthy GP, Hao J, Knauf JA, Herbert ZT, Martínez P, Blasco MA, Ghossein R, Fagin JA. Telomerase upregulation induces progression of mouse BrafV600E-driven thyroid cancers and triggers non-telomeric effects. Mol Cancer Res. 2023 Nov 1;21(11):1163-1175. PMID: 37478162.
Leandro-García LJ, Landa I. Mechanistic insights of thyroid cancer progression. Endocrinology. 2023 Aug 1;164(9):bqad118. PMID: 37503738.
Bikas A, Ahmadi S, Pappa T, Marqusee E, Wong K, Nehs MA, Cho NL, Haase J, Doherty GM, Sehgal K, Barletta JA, Alexander EK, Landa I. Additional Oncogenic Alterations in RAS-Driven Differentiated Thyroid Cancers Associate with Worse Clinicopathologic Outcomes. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Jul 14;29(14):2678-2685. PMID: 37260297.
Landa I. InTERTwined: How TERT promoter mutations impact BRAFV600E-driven thyroid cancers. Curr Opin Endocr Metab Res. 2023 Jun:30:100460. PMID: 37576936.
Bikas A, Wong K, Pappa T, Ahmadi S, Wakefield CB, Marqusee E, Xiang P, Altshuler B, Haase J, Barletta JA, Landa I, Alexander EK. Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas with Tall Cell Features: An Intermediate Entity between Classic and Tall Cell Subtypes. Thyroid. 2023 Jun;33(6):697-704. PMID: 36960703.
Landa I. Advances in Thyroid Carcinoma. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jun 13;14(12):2908. PMID: 35740572.
Thornton CEM, Hao J, Tamarapu PP, Landa I. Multiple ETS Factors Participate in the Transcriptional Control of TERT Mutant Promoter in Thyroid Cancers. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jan 12;14(2):357. PMID: 35053525.
Pappa T, Ahmadi S, Marqusee E, Johnson H, Nehs MA, Cho NL, Barletta JA, Lorch JH, Doherty GM, Lindeman NI, Alexander EK, Landa I. Oncogenic Mutations in PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway Effectors Associate with Worse Prognosis in BRAF^V600E-Driven Papillary Thyroid Cancer Patients. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Aug 1;27(15):4256-64. PMID: 34088725.

COLLABORATIVE PAPERS

Altshuler B, Bikas A, Pappa T, Marqusee E, Cho NL, Nehs MA, Liu JB, Doherty GM, Landa I, Ahmadi S, Alexander EK. Non-Operative, Active Surveillance of Larger Malignant and Suspicious Thyroid Nodules. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2024 Feb 13:dgae082. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38349208.
Fagin JA, Krishnamoorthy GP, Landa I. Pathogenesis of cancers derived from thyroid follicular cells. Nat Rev Cancer. 2023 Sep;23(9):631-650. PMID: 37438605.
Xiang P, Ahmadi S, Coleman A, West W, Lobon I, Bikas A, Landa I, Marqusee E, Kim M, Alexander EK, Pappa T. Identifying and predicting diverse patterns of benign nodule growth. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023 Jun 16;108(7):e458-e463. PMID: 36625198.
Pappa T, Ahmadi S, Bikas A, Hwang S, Coleman A, Lobon I, Xiang P, Kim M, Marqusee E, Richman DM, Durfee SM, Asch EH, Benson CB, Frates MC, Landa I, Alexander EK. Thyroid nodule shape independently predicts risk of malignancy. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2022 Jun 16;107(7):1865-1870. PMID: 35439309.
Zhao B, Aggarwal A, Im SY, Viswanathan K, Landa I, Nehs MA. Effect of lactate export inhibition on anaplastic thyroid cancer growth and metabolism. J Am Coll Surg. 2022 Jun 1;234(6):1044-1050. PMID: 35703795.
Xu B, Zhang L, Setoodeh R, Mohanty AS, Landa I, Balzer B, Tiedje V, Ganly I, Dogan S, Fagin JA, Ghossein R. Prolonged survival of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma is associated with resectability, low tumor-infiltrating neutrophils/myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and low peripheral neutrophil-to- lymphocyte ratio. Endocrine. 2022 Jun;76(3):612-9. PMID: 35149932.
Ahmadi S, Coleman A, de Morais NS, Landa I, Pappa T, Kang A, Kim MI, Marqusee E, Alexander EK. Clinical experience following implementation of routine SPECT CT imaging following 131-iodine administration for thyroid cancer. Endocr Connect. 2022 May 25;11(5):e210371. PMID: 35521806.
Ahmadi S, Pappa T, Kang A, Coleman A, Landa I, Marqusee E, Kim M, Angell TE, Alexander EK. Point of care measurement of body mass index and thyroid nodule malignancy risk assessment. Front. Endocrinol. (Lausanne). 2022 Feb 11;13:824226. PMID: 35222281.
Ghossein CA, Dogan S, Farhat N, Landa I, Xu B. Expanding the spectrum of thyroid carcinoma with somatic DICER1 mutation: a survey of 829 thyroid carcinomas using MSK-IMPACT next-generation sequencing platform. Virchows Arch. 2022 Feb;480(2):293-302. PMID: 34580763.
Xu B, David J, Dogan S, Landa I, Katabi N, Saliba M, Khimraj A, Sherman EJ, Tuttle RM, Tallini G, Ganly I, Fagin JA, Ghossein RA. Primary high-grade non-anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: a retrospective study of 364 cases. Histopathology. 2022 Jan;80(2):322-337. PMID: 34449926.
Siegmund S, Landa I, Wong KP, Barletta JA. Hürthle cell neoplasms. Diagnostic Histopathology. 2021; 27(6): 231-239. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mpdhp.2021.03.001
Xu B, Fuchs TL, Dogan S, Landa I, Katabi N, Fagin JA, Tuttle RM, Sherman EJ, Gill AJ, Ghossein R. Dissecting Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma (ATC): A Comprehensive Clinical, histologic, Immunophenotypic, and Molecular Study of 360 Cases. Thyroid. 2020 Oct;30(10):1505-1517. PMID: 3228402

OTHER SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Landa I, Pozdeyev N, Korch C, Marlow LA, Smallridge RC, Copland JA, Henderson Y, Lai S, Clayman G, Onoda N, Tan AC, Garcia-Rendueles ME, Knauf JA, Haugen BR, Fagin JA, Schweppe RE. Comprehensive Genetic Characterization of Human Thyroid Cancer Cell Lines: A Validated Panel for Preclinical Studies. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 May 15;25(10):3141-51. PMID: 30737244.
Landa I, Knauf JA. Mouse Models as a Tool for Understanding Progression in BRAF^V600E-Driven Thyroid Cancers. Endocrinol Metab (Seoul). 2019 Mar;34(1):11-22. PMID: 30784243.
Landa I, Ibrahimpasic T, Boucai L, Sinha R, Knauf JA, Shah RH, Dogan S, Ricarte-Filho JC, Krishnamoorthy GP, Xu B, Schultz N, Berger MF, Sander C, Taylor BS, Ghossein R, Ganly I, Fagin JA. Genomic and Transcriptomic Hallmarks of Poorly Differentiated and Anaplastic Thyroid Cancers. J Clin Invest. 2016 Mar 1; 126(3):1052-66. PMID: 26878173.

COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY

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LINKS

Our lab is located in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, MA. We are within a rich scientific environment that includes Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and other Harvard Medical School affiliated academic institutions.

If you are interested in participating in our research, please send an email with your CV and brief cover letter to Dr. Landa.

THE LANDA LAB

77 Avenue Louis Pasteur

4BF (HIM) Building

Rooms 645A/632

Boston, MA 02115

617.525.5153 / 617.525.4016