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Alexander Krasnitz

Alexander Krasnitz

Research Professor
Cancer Center Member

Ph.D., Tel Aviv University, 1990

krasnitz@cshl.edu | 516-367-6863

Faculty Profile

Many types of cancer display bewildering intra-tumor heterogeneity on a cellular and molecular level, with aggressive malignant cell populations found alongside normal tissue and infiltrating immune cells. I am developing mathematical and statistical tools to disentangle tumor cell population structure, enabling an earlier and more accurate diagnosis of the disease and better-informed clinical decisions.

Alexander Krasnitz and colleagues develop mathematical and statistical tools to investigate population structure of cells comprising a malignant tumor and to reconstruct evolutionary processes leading up to that structure. These tools are designed to make optimal use of emerging molecular technologies, chief among them high-throughput genomic profiling of multiple individual cells harvested from a tumor. By analyzing these profiles, Krasnitz derives novel molecular measures of malignancy, such as the number of aggressive clones in a tumor, the invasive capacity of each clone and the amount of cancer-related genetic alteration sustained by clonal cells. Krasnitz and colleagues collaborate closely with clinical oncologists to explore the utility of such measures for earlier detection of cancer, more accurate patient outcome prediction and risk assessment, and better-informed choice of treatment options.

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All Publications

Correction: Genetic Ancestry Inference from Cancer-Derived Molecular Data across Genomic and Transcriptomic Platforms.

18 Jan 2023 | Cancer Research | 83(2):347
Belleau, Pascal, Deschênes, Astrid, Chambwe, Nyasha, Tuveson, David, Krasnitz, Alexander

Genetic ancestry inference from cancer-derived molecular data across genomic and transcriptomic platforms

13 Dec 2022 | Cancer Research | :CAN-22
Belleau, Pascal, Deschênes, Astrid, Chambwe, Nyasha, Tuveson, David, Krasnitz, Alexander

Ordered and deterministic cancer genome evolution after p53 loss

17 Aug 2022 | Nature
Baslan, Timour, Morris, John, Zhao, Zhen, Reyes, Jose, Ho, Yu-Jui, Tsanov, Kaloyan, Bermeo, Jonathan, Tian, Sha, Zhang, Sean, Askan, Gokce, Yavas, Aslihan, Lecomte, Nicolas, Erakky, Amanda, Varghese, Anna, Zhang, Amy, Kendall, Jude, Ghiban, Elena, Chorbadjiev, Lubomir, Wu, Jie, Dimitrova, Nevenka, Chadalavada, Kalyani, Nanjangud, Gouri, Bandlamudi, Chaitanya, Gong, Yixiao, Donoghue, Mark, Socci, Nicholas, Krasnitz, Alex, Notta, Faiyaz, Leach, Steve, Iacobuzio-Donahue, Christine, Lowe, Scott

Accurate and robust inference of genetic ancestry from cancer-derived molecular data across genomic platforms

4 Feb 2022 | bioRxiv
Belleau, Pascal, Deschênes, Astrid, Tuveson, David, Krasnitz, Alexander

Intraductal Transplantation Models of Human Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Reveal Progressive Transition of Molecular Subtypes.

1 Oct 2020 | Cancer Discovery | 10(10):1566-1589
Miyabayashi, Koji, Baker, Lindsey, Deschênes, Astrid, Traub, Benno, Caligiuri, Giuseppina, Plenker, Dennis, Alagesan, Brinda, Belleau, Pascal, Li, Siran, Kendall, Jude, Jang, Gun, Kawaguchi, Risa, Somerville, Tim, Tiriac, Hervé, Hwang, Chang-Il, Burkhart, Richard, Roberts, Nicholas, Wood, Laura, Hruban, Ralph, Gillis, Jesse, Krasnitz, Alexander, Vakoc, Christopher, Wigler, Michael, Notta, Faiyaz, Gallinger, Steven, Park, Youngkyu, Tuveson, David

SOAT1 promotes mevalonate pathway dependency in pancreatic cancer

7 Jul 2020 | Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM) | 217(9)
Oni, T, Biffi, G, Baker, L, Hao, Y, Tonelli, C, Somerville, T, Deschênes, A, Belleau, P, Hwang, C, Sánchez-Rivera, F, Cox, H, Brosnan, E, Doshi, A, Lumia, R, Khaledi, K, Park, Y, Trotman, L, Lowe, S, Krasnitz, A, Vakoc, C, Tuveson, D

Integrated Computational Pipeline for Single-Cell Genomic Profiling

20 May 2020 | JCO clinical cancer informatics | 4:464-471
Chorbadjiev, L, Kendall, J, Alexander, J, Zhygulin, V, Song, J, Wigler, M, Krasnitz, A

Novel Insights Into Breast Cancer Copy Number Genetic Heterogeneity Revealed by Single-Cell Genome Sequencing

13 May 2020 | eLife | 9:e51480
Baslan, T, Kendall, J, Volyanskyy, K, McNamara, K, Cox, H, D'Italia, S, Ambrosio, F, Riggs, M, Rodgers, L, Leotta, A, Song, J, Mao, Y, Wu, J, Shah, R, Gularte-Merida, R, Chadalavada, K, Nanjangud, G, Varadan, V, Gordon, A, Curtis, C, Krasnitz, A, Dimitrova, N, Harris, L, Wigler, M, Hicks, J

Multiplex Accurate Sensitive Quantitation (MASQ) With Application to Minimal Residual Disease in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

21 Feb 2020 | Nucleic Acids Research (NAR) | 48(7):e40
Moffitt, A, Spector, M, Andrews, P, Kendall, J, Alexander, J, Stepansky, A, Ma, B, Kolitz, J, Chiorazzi, N, Allen, S, Krasnitz, A, Wigler, M, Levy, D, Wang, Z

Copolymerization of single-cell nucleic acids into balls of acrylamide gel

14 Nov 2019 | Genome Research | 30(1):49-61
Li, S, Kendall, J, Park, S, Wang, Z, Alexander, J, Moffitt, A, Ranade, N, Danyko, C, Gegenhuber, B, Fischer, S, Robinson, B, Lepor, H, Tollkuhn, J, Gillis, J, Brouzes, E, Krasnitz, A, Levy, D, Wigler, M

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