R. Scott Powers, PhD
Professor, Department of Pathology
Director of Clinical Cancer Genomics, Cancer Center
Basic Sciences Tower, Level 9
Stony Brook Medicine
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8691
Phone: (631) 444-3000
Fax: (631) 444-3424
Email: Robert.Powers@stonybrookmedicine.edu
Research Interests:
Historically Dr. Powers’ main focus has been application of genome-wide DNA copy number profiling to identify recurrent amplified candidate driver genes. This work has involved in vitro and in vivo functional assays to validate the role of candidate driver genes in oncogenesis. Discoveries in this area include gene amplification of PPM1D and ACK1 in breast and prostate adenocarcinomas and more recently, activation of FGF19 by genomic amplification and overexpression in hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition to copy number alterations in cancer, Dr. Powers has applied genome-wide methods to the study of mutational changes, epigenetic changes, and tumor-stromal interactions. Current projects include: (1) Functional genomic Identification of drivers and dependencies in breast cancer (2) Computational analysis of large-scale cancer genomic datasets (3) Studying the clonal dynamics of cancer cells using single-cell barcoding (4) Combinatorial genetic screening using tandem-integration of multiple barcodes and (5) Discovery of biomarkers by genomic analysis of exosomes.
| Education: | |||
| Institution/Location | Degree | Year | Field of Study |
| Carleton College, Northfield, MN | B.A. | 1974 | Mathematics |
| Columbia University, New York, NY | Ph.D. | 1983 | Biological Sciences |
Positions and Employment: |
|
| Year(s) | Institution/ Location |
| 1983-1984 | Postdoc, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY |
| 1985-1987 | Staff Scientist, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY |
| 1988-1991 | Assistant & Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Rutgers Medical School, NJ |
| 1992-1994 | Senior Scientist, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, CA |
| 1995-2004 | Chief Scientific Officer, Amplicon/Tularik/Amgen, NY |
| 2005-2013 | Associate Professor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY |
| 2014-present | Professor of Pathology, Stony Brook University, NY |
| 2014-present | Program Leader in Cancer Genomics, Cancer Center, Stony Brook Medicine, NY |
Awards: |
|
| 1983-1985 | Leukemia Society of America Fellowship |
| 1989 | Basil O’Connor Award |
Professional Memberships (current): |
|
| 2014-present | Chair, NCI Cancer Genetics Study Section |
| 2015-present | Editorial Board, Nature Scientific Reports |
| 2010-present | Scientific Advisory Board, Hope Funds for Scientific Research |
| 1995-present | American Association for Cancer Research |
Publications:
Most recent penultimate author publication in Nature (2025):
Adrover JM, Han X, Sun L, Fujii T, Sivetz N, Daßler-Plenker J, Evans C, Peters J, He XY, Cannon CD, Ho WJ, Raptis G, Powers RS, Egeblad M. Neutrophils drive vascular occlusion, tumour necrosis and metastasis. Nature. 2025 Jul 16. doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09278-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40670787.
