Who We Are
Hughes Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Bayes Mendel Lab at DFCI have collaborated to provide this informative and useful website.
Senior Leadership
Kevin S. Hughes, M.D.
Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School; Co-Director, Avon Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center; Medical Director, Bermuda Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Clinic
Senior Leadership
Clinical Care
Dr. Hughes is a member of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he is the Surgical Director of the Breast Screening Program, Surgical Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Program, and Co-Director of the Avon Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center.
He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Medical School and trained at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh in general surgery. He did a fellowship in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Hughes is a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and was formerly on the faculty of Tufts University, UC Davis, and Brown University. Dr. Hughes has served on numerous national and regional committees and is actively involved in research regarding the genetics, screening, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
He is the author of numerous papers and book chapters on the subjects of breast cancer, screening, diagnosis and treatment, and risk assessment.
Giovanni Parmigiani, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Data Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Senior Leadership
Statistics
Giovanni Parmigiani’s research interests include:
- Models and software for predicting who is at risk of carrying genetic variants that confer susceptibility to cancer. Application to breast, ovarian, colorectal, pancreatic and skin cancer.
- Machine Learning methods for replicable predictions. Integration of genomic information across studies and technologies; cross-study validation of genomics results.
- Statistical methods for complex medical decisions: comprehensive models for lifetime history of chronic disease outcomes; decision trees and dynamic programming.
- Bayesian modeling and computation: multilevel models; decision theoretic approaches to inference; sequential experimental design, Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.
Danielle Braun, Ph.D.
Research Scientist, Department of Data Sciences, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Senior Leadership
Statistics
Danielle Braun is a Research Scientist in the Biostatistics Department at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and in the Department of Data Sciences at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Her areas of research include risk prediction, genetic epidemiology, measurement error, survival analysis, frailty models, causal inference, and comparative effectiveness research. As a research scientist Danielle works with Dr. Parmigiani in the BayesMendel lab and Dr. Dominici.
Regina Barzilay, Ph.D.
Delta Electronics Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Faculty Co-Lead, J-Clinic
MacArthur Fellow
Senior Leadership
Artifical Intelligence
Regina Barzilay is a Delta Electronics professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research interests are in natural language processing, applications of deep learning to chemistry and oncology. She is a recipient of various awards including the NSF Career Award, the MIT Technology Review TR-35 Award, Microsoft Faculty Fellowship and several Best Paper Awards at NAACL and ACL. In 2017, she received a MacArthur fellowship, an ACL fellowship and an AAAI fellowship. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University, and spent a year as a postdoc at Cornell University.
Content Editor
Kanhua Yin, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Kanhua Yin is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital Division of Surgical Oncology, Harvard Medical School Department of Surgery, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Department of Data Sciences. He received a Bachelor of Medicine (2014) and a Doctor of Medicine (2017) from Fudan University and obtained a Master of Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2018.
Preeti Singh, M.B.B.S.
Dr. Preeti Singh is a research fellow at the MGH Division of Surgical Oncology, Harvard Medical School Department of Surgery, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Department of Data Sciences. She received a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune in 2017. She worked as a House Surgeon at Osmania University. Her special interest is in research associated with gene cancer associations that can aid physicians to provide better patient care.
Jin Wang, M.D.
Dr. Jin Wang is a visiting research fellow in the MGH Division of Surgical Oncology. She is an Associate Professor of Surgery in the Department of Breast Oncology at Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China. She graduated from Peking Union Medical College in 2012 and completed her surgical residency training at Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
Jingan Zhou, M.D.
Dr. Jingan Zhou is a visiting research fellow in the MGH Division of Surgical Oncology. He is an Associate Professor and attending surgeon in Department of General Surgery, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, China. He graduated from Capital Medical University and completed his surgical resident training at Beijing Anzhen Hospital.
Kush Pathak, M.B.B.S., M.S.
Dr. Kush Pathak is a general surgeon in India. He graduated from King George Medical University, India in 2014. He completed his surgical residency from GSVM medical college, India in 2017. He worked at Avon Breast Cancer Center, MGH.
Ahmet Acar, M.D.
Dr. Ahmet Acar is an emergency doctor at Avrupa Hospital in Istanbul. He graduated from Kocaeli University Medical Faculty in 2013. He was a visiting fellow in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH.
Technology Master & Graphics Editor
Sherwood S. Hughes
Sherwood is the Director of Communications Technology at the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization and a Co-Director of eCare Communications at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He co-developed the first version of Hughes Risk Apps and the Hughes Risk Web service. Sherwood holds a degree from Harvard University.
Lauren Rusnak, Ph.D.
Dr. Rusnak works as a freelance medical writer in Atlanta, Georgia. She completed her Ph.D. in Cancer Biology at Emory University and previously studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and William & Mary.
Serenity Beaumont
Serenity Beaumont is a student research fellow at Hughes Lab in the MGH Division of Surgical Oncology. She is a senior at Lexington Christian Academy preparing to transition to college where she intends to study biopsychology on a pre-veterinary track. She is a Veterinary Technician Assistant at a veterinary clinic located in Hopkinton, MA assisting the lead veterinarian with research. She is also a student researcher through YES for CURE program, organized by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Cancer Center (DFCI/HCC) since 2019.
Artificial Intelligence/Natural Language Processing Experts
Yujia Bao, M.S.
Yujia Bao is a third year PhD student at MIT CSAIL, advised by Prof. Regina Barzilay. His research interests include transfer learning and interpretability of neural networks. He received BS in Mathematics from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2016), MA in Mathematics from UW-Madison (2017) and MS in Computer Science from MIT (2019).
Menghua (Rachel) Wu, B.S.
Rachel is an MEng student at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL), advised by Professor Regina Barzilay. She received my BS from the departments of Computer Science and Mathematics at MIT in June 2019.
Peter Mikhael
Peter is currently a research affiliate in the Barzilay Group at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). He previously worked on cancer metabolism as an undergraduate researcher in the Locasale Lab at Duke University, where he received a BS in Chemistry and in Mathematics in 2019.
Statistical Experts
Cathy Wang, M.S.
Cathy Wang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University. She received her master's degree from the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2018. Her research interests include penetrance estimation and meta-analysis.
Xiyu Ding, M.S.
Xiyu is a second-year master student at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health where she is pursuing a MS in Computational Biology. She is interested in leveraging statistical and machine learning techniques to support clinical decision making and transform modern healthcare.
Alumni
Francisco Acevedo, M.D.
Dr. Francisco Acevedo was a visiting research fellow in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH. He graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile School of Medicine in 2007. He completed his internal medicine and medical oncology residency in the same institution. He is an attending Medical Oncologist and Academic at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile School of Medicine.
Kinyas Kartal, M.D.
Dr. Kinyas Kartal graduated from Baskent University School of Medicine in 2006. He completed his surgical residency program at Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Department of General Surgery. He was a visiting research fellow in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH. He is working as a general surgeon at Koc University Hospital at Istanbul, Turkey.
Ankur Tiwari, M.B.B.S.
Dr. Ankur Tiwari is a research assistant in the Division of Surgical Oncology, MGH. He received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (M.B.B.S.) degree from Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, India in 2017.
Pankti Tamboli, B.S.
Pankti Tamboli is a second-year medical student at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYIT-COM). She graduated from NYIT in 2016 with a B.S. in Health Sciences - Biology. She was a research assistant in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH.
Zhengyi Deng, M.S.
Zhengyi Deng is a Ph.D. student in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his M.S. in environmental health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He was a database coordinator in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH.
Victor Diego Armengol, A.B.
Victor Diego Armengol is a medical student at the Yale School of Medicine. He graduated from Harvard College in 2017 with an A.B. in Chemistry. He was a research assistant in the Division of Surgical Oncology at MGH.
Jaihwan Kim, M.D.
Dr. Jaihwan Kim is a visiting scholar in the BayesMendel lab in the Department of Data Sciences at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is an associate professor at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. He graduated from Seoul National University College of Medicine in 2002. He completed his training in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology in the same institution.
Yan Wang, M.D.
Dr. Yan Wang is an attending surgeon and associate chief physician in the breast surgery department of Shanghai Cancer Hospital. She graduated from Shanghai Medical School of Fudan University in 2008. She completed her surgical residency training at Shanghai Zhongshan Hospital and Shanghai Cancer Hospital. She was a visiting research fellow in the Surgical Oncology Department at MGH.
Molly Griffin, B.A.
Molly Griffin is a medical student at University of Massachusetts Medical School. She graduated from Harvard College in 2012 with a BA in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. She was a research assistant in the Surgical Oncology Department at MGH.
Jiabei Yang, M.S.
Jiabei Yang is a PhD student in the Department of Biostatistics at Brown University. She received her masters degree from the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2017. Her research interests include risk estimation for mutation carriers and developing risk prediction models for the Chinese population.
Caleb (Funchan) Bae, M.S.
Caleb Bae is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biostatistics at University of Pennsylvania. He received his master's degree from the Department of Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2019. His research interests include variant risk prediction modeling.
Grace Sollender, A.B.
Grace Sollender is a medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2015 with an AB in Biology and Spanish. She was conducting clinical research in Surgical Oncology at MGH. She will be applying to urology residency programs in fall 2018.
Rong Tang, M.D.
Dr. Rong Tang was a research fellow and a clinical fellow in breast surgery at MGH. She graduated from Medical School of the University of South China, and she completed her surgical resident training at Plastic Surgery Hospital of Peking Union Medical School and Hunan Cancer Hospital of Xiangya Medical School.
Eitan Friedman, M.D.
Content Editor
Hebrew Editor
Dr. Friedman graduated from the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel (MD in 1979), is board certified in Internal Medicine (1987) and Medical Genetics (2000), has a PhD in molecular biology from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden (1994) and is a full professor of Medicine at the Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry at the Sackler school of Medicine. He founded the Oncogenetics unit at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer, Israel, in 1995 and is currently its director. Since 2007 he has also been the head of the Meirav high risk clinic at the Sheba Medical Center.