Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, United States
Justin Durla Lathia, Ph.D.
Dr. Justin Lathia leads a translational brain tumor research laboratory and is Vice Chair and Professor in the Department of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Sciences and Director of Faculty Development at the Lerner Research Institute, part of the Cleveland Clinic. He is also Scientific Director of the Rose Ella Burkhardt Brain Tumor and Neuro-Oncology Center at the Cleveland Clinic and Co-Leader of the Molecular Oncology Program at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Lathia is a native of Central PA and received a B.S. and M.S. in biomedical engineering from Drexel University. Dr. Lathia completed his Ph.D. as part of the NIH-Cambridge Graduate Partnership Program. His worked focused on the role of cell adhesion molecules during the development of the nervous system. After completing his Ph.D., he completed post-doctoral fellowships at Duke University and the Cleveland Clinic where he focused on the role of cell adhesion in regulating cancer stem cells in brain tumors. In 2012, Dr. Lathia moved to the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine as an independent investigator and the work in his lab focuses on how the stem cell state is regulated in advanced cancers. Projects in the Lathia laboratory involve understanding how cancer stem cells interact with their surrounding microenvironment as well as one another with the goal of identifying unique pathways for therapeutic development. Dr. Lathia has co-authored over 220 publications and work in his lab is currently supported by multiple National Institutes of Health and foundation grants, and previously funded by the Sontag Foundation and ABTA. Dr. Lathia also serves on the editorial board for Cell Reports, Cancer Research, and Neuro-Oncology, has served on multiple grant review panels for the NIH and private foundations. He also served as a co-editor for a cancer stem cell textbook.