The Best of the AACR Journals Collection: Author Profiles

Lee A. Albacker

Title & Affiliation:
Director, Cancer Genomics Research, Foundation Medicine, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Most-cited Article:
STK11/LKB1 Mutations and PD-1 Inhibitor Resistance in KRAS-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma

Q: What is your primary area of study/research?
A: Translational genomics in oncology with a focus on immuno-oncology.

Q: What influenced your decision to embark on a research career?
A: The idea that I could be the first person ever to know something is what got me into science. When I did my first real experiment, I asked my advisor if I got the right answer and he responded, “I don’t know; there’s no answer key.” I was hooked.

Q; What excites you most about your research area?
A: The combination of being able to impact patient care and making full use of my background in immunology (PhD) and cancer (post-doc) makes translational immuno-oncology a fulfilling area for me to work in.

Q: What are your hobbies or passions outside of work?
A: My kids are young enough that they still want to play with me, so I spend a lot of time with them. I enjoy running and training for 5Ks, which is a high intensity race that requires a lot less time than marathon training. I also like to tinker with artificial intelligence and have written programs to play Yahtzee, solve Sudoku puzzles, etc.