Research
The research of the Schultz laboratory focuses on identifying the genomic alterations that underlie different types of cancer. By applying existing or novel computational methods to large scale cancer genomics data sets, the lab aims to better understand the complex mechanisms at the gene and at the pathway level that drive tumor progression, with the ultimate goal of identifying targeted therapeutic options for cancer patients. Dr. Schultz is engaged in collaborations with multiple investigators at MSK. He has also made significant contributions to several projects of The Cancer Genome Atlas, The Human Tumor Atlas Network, and AACR Project GENIE. He has a particular interest in enabling discoveries by developing software tools and databases for the visualization and analysis of clinics-genomic data, and he co-leads the development of the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics, a web-based resource for the analysis of complex cancer genomics data, and of OncoKB®, MSK's precision oncology knowledge base. He also leads the Cancer Data Science Initiative at MSK, which aims to make real world data from cancer patients more easily interpretable and accessible for research purposes.
Current Projects:
- Predictive models for outcome and treatment sensitivity in cancer
- NLP methods for the automated abstraction of clinical data from the EHR
- Development of the cBioPortal for Cancer Genomics
- Development of OncoKB, MSK’s precision oncology knowledgebase
- Interpreting the effects of genomic variants in cancer
Bio
Dr. Schultz obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from Freie Universität Berlin in 2004. The PhD research was conducted at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, focused on the investigation of gene expression patterns in gametogenesis using DNA microarrays. He completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Computational Biology at MSK, conducting high-throughput siRNA screens to identify components of the TGF-beta pathway. Since 2008, his work has focused on cancer genomics.
Distinctions:
- Memorial Hospital Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2022)
- AACR Team Science Award (2020)
- Geoffrey Beene Junior Faculty Chair (2019)
- Stupski Prize in Prostate Cancer Computational Oncology (2015)
- The Columbia Hospital Research Foundation Annual Award for Excellence in Obstetrical and Gynecologic Research (2014)
- Young Investigator Award, Prostate Cancer Foundation (2014)
- Josie Robertson Investigator Award, Robertson Foundation (2013)
Selected Publications:
Suehnholz SP, Nissan MH, Zhang H, Kundra R, Nandakumar S, Lu C, Carrero S, Dhaneshwar A, Fernandez N, Xu BW, Arcila ME, Zehir A, Syed A, Brannon AR, Rudolph JE, Paraiso E, Sabbatini PJ, Levine RL, Dogan A, Gao J, Ladanyi M, Drilon A, Berger MF, Solit DB, Schultz N, Chakravarty D. Quantifying the Expanding Landscape of Clinical Actionability for Patients with Cancer. Cancer Discov. 2023 Oct 18.
de Bruijn I, Kundra R, Mastrogiacomo B, Tran TN, Sikina L, Mazor T, Li X, Ochoa A, Zhao G, Lai B, Abeshouse A, Baiceanu D, Ciftci E, Dogrusoz U, Dufilie A, Erkoc Z, Garcia Lara E, Fu Z, Gross BE, Haynes CD, Heath A, Higgins DM, Jagannathan P, Kalletla K, Kumari P, Lindsay JR, Lisman A, Leenknegt B, Lukasse P, Madala D, Madupuri R, van Nierop P, Plantalech O, Quach J, Resnick A, Rodenburg SYA, Satravada BA, Schaeffer F, Sheridan R, Singh J, Sirohi R, Sumer SO, van Hagen S, Wang A, Wilson M, Zhang H, Zhu K, Rusk N, Brown S, Lavery JA, Panageas KS, Rudolph JE, LeNoue-Newton ML, Warner JL, Guo X, Hunter-Zinck H, Yu TV, Pillai S, Nichols C, Gardos SM, Philip J, Bpc Core Team G, Project Genie Consortium A, Kehl KL, Riely GJ, Schrag D, Lee J, Fiandalo MV, Sweeney SM, Pugh TJ, Sander C, Cerami E, Gao J, Schultz N. Analysis and Visualization of Longitudinal Genomic and Clinical Data from the AACR Project GENIE Biopharma Collaborative in cBioPortal. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Sep 1;29(17):3418-3428.
Nguyen B, Fong C, Luthra A, Smith SA, DiNatale RG, Nandakumar S, Walch H, Chatila WK, Madupuri R, Kundra R, Bielski CM, Mastrogiacomo B, Donoghue MTA, Boire A, Chandarlapaty S, Ganesh K, Harding JJ, Iacobuzio-Donahue CA, Razavi P, Reznik E, Rudin CM, Zamarin D, Abida W, Abou-Alfa GK, Aghajanian C, Cercek A, Chi P, Feldman D, Ho AL, Iyer G, Janjigian YY, Morris M, Motzer RJ, O'Reilly EM, Postow MA, Raj NP, Riely GJ, Robson ME, Rosenberg JE, Safonov A, Shoushtari AN, Tap W, Teo MY, Varghese AM, Voss M, Yaeger R, Zauderer MG, Abu-Rustum N, Garcia-Aguilar J, Bochner B, Hakimi A, Jarnagin WR, Jones DR, Molena D, Morris L, Rios-Doria E, Russo P, Singer S, Strong VE, Chakravarty D, Ellenson LH, Gopalan A, Reis-Filho JS, Weigelt B, Ladanyi M, Gonen M, Shah SP, Massague J, Gao J, Zehir A, Berger MF, Solit DB, Bakhoum SF, Sanchez-Vega F, Schultz N. Genomic characterization of metastatic patterns from prospective clinical sequencing of 25,000 patients. Cell. 2022 Feb 3;185(3):563-575.e11.
Sanchez-Vega F, Mina M, Armenia J, Chatila WK, Luna A, La KC, Dimitriadoy S, Liu DL, Kantheti HS, Saghafinia S, Chakravarty D, Daian F, Gao Q, Bailey MH, Liang WW, Foltz SM, Shmulevich I, Ding L, Heins Z, Ochoa A, Gross B, Gao J, Zhang H, Kundra R, Kandoth C, Bahceci I, Dervishi L, Dogrusoz U, Zhou W, Shen H, Laird PW, Way GP, Greene CS, Liang H, Xiao Y, Wang C, Iavarone A, Berger AH, Bivona TG, Lazar AJ, Hammer GD, Giordano T, Kwong LN, McArthur G, Huang C, Tward AD, Frederick MJ, McCormick F, Meyerson M; Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, Van Allen EM, Cherniack AD, Ciriello G, Sander C, Schultz N. Oncogenic Signaling Pathways in The Cancer Genome Atlas. Cell. 2018 Apr 5;173(2):321-337.e10.