Frank Slack, Ph.D.

Advisor

Dr. Frank Slack, Ph.D., is the Shields Warren Mallinckrodt Professor, Department of Pathology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Director of the Institute for RNA Medicine. Dr. Slack began his pioneering work in the field of microRNAs as a postdoctoral fellow in Gary Ruvkun’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he co-discovered the second known microRNA, let-7, showing that it is a tumor suppressor that controls key cancer genes, such as RAS, MYC and LIN28. 

Dr. Slack is a thought-leader in the diverse therapeutic potential of microRNA; in addition to oncology, his lab’s current research also extends to discovery of additional novel small RNAs in developmental biology, aging and diabetes.

Dr. Slack received his BSc from the University of Cape Town in South Africa before completing his PhD in molecular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine.