Dr. Joshua Rabinowitz is the director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Princeton Branch and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University. After obtaining his M.D. and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Stanford University, Rabinowitz co-founded Alexza Pharmaceuticals and served as vice president for research until 2004, when he joined Princeton University. Rabinowitz has received several awards for his scientific contributions, including the Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, the NIH Pioneer Award, the CAREER Award of the National Science Foundation and the Beckman Young Investigator Award.
Dr. Rabinowitz focuses his research on two broad questions: What is the quantitative flow (flux) through different metabolic pathways? How is this flux controlled? These questions go to the essence of how metabolism functions. To answer them, the Rabinowitz laboratory develops methods and technologies that blend mass spectrometry and computational analysis and applies them to biological experimentation. His lab has dissected compensatory mechanisms that render both NADPH and folate metabolism robust and is working to rewire these pathways to treat cancer. To this end, the lab made small molecule inhibitors of the enzymes SHMT and G6PD, which are moving forward as potential cancer therapeutics. Dr. Rabinowitz is particularly excited by the prospect of quantitatively investigating the ties between diet and metabolism, including the metabolism of tumors and immune cells. His lab has recently found that the ketogenic diet synergizes in mice with classical chemotherapeutics for pancreatic cancer. These studies promise to open new approaches to the prevention and treatment of cancer.