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Roel Verhaak, PhD

Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery
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Additional Titles

Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

About

Titles

Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery

Professor, Department of Neurosurgery

Biography

Roel Verhaak, PhD., is a Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Yale School of Medicine. Following graduation with a Ph.D. in medicine from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Roel joined the Broad Institute/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a postdoctoral associate, supported by a fellowship from the Dutch Cancer Society. During his time at the Broad, he was part of the team analyzing data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. He led the identification and characterization of gene expression subtypes in glioblastoma, work that resulted in a seminal Cancer Cell 2010 publication.

Roel moved to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, in 2010 to start his own lab. Since then, the Verhaak lab has studied tumor evolution and mechanisms of therapy resistance in low- and high-grade gliomas. The group was foundational in establishing the Glioma Longitudinal Analysis Consortium, which has established a resource of molecular profiles over time on a large cohort of patients with a glioma. They identified and described genetic ‘scars’ and cellular phenotypes associated with glioma progression and disease recurrence. Extrachromosomal DNA amplifications were discovered as critical drivers and are now a major part of the team's research. After being affiliated with the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine from 2016, the Verhaak lab joined the School of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, in 2023. Roel Verhaak is a recipient of the AAAS Wachtel Award, the Agilent Early Career Professor Award, and the Peter Steck Memorial Award, and is a co-founder of Boundless Bio.

Appointments

Education & Training

Postdoctoral Fellow
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (2010)
PhD
Erasmus University Medical Center, Hematology (2006)
MSc
Radboud University, Biomedical Sciences (2000)

Research

Overview

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)

Astrocytoma; Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma; Glioblastoma; Oligodendroglioma

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Roel Verhaak's published research.

Publications

Featured Publications

2024

2023

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    AAAS Martin and Rose Wachtel Cancer Research Award

  • honor

    Adult Basic Science Award

  • honor

    Peter Steck Memorial Award

  • honor

    Wilson S. Stone Memorial Award

Get In Touch

Administrative Support

Locations

  • Sterling Hall of Medicine

    Lab

    333 Cedar Street

    New Haven, CT 06510