Scott Armstrong

Dr. Scott Armstrong is the David G. Nathan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Chair of Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and President of the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

The Armstrong laboratory is interested in the relationship between leukemia and normal hematopoietic stem cells, and the mechanisms by which chromatin modifications control gene expression during normal and cancer development. The laboratory has defined developmental gene expression programs that are aberrantly expressed in cancer and identified the chromatin regulatory complexes that are critical for maintenance of cancer-causing gene expression. This work prompted development of small molecules that target chromatin-based mechanisms, a number of which are currently being assessed in adults and children with cancer.

Dr. Armstrong is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and his work has been recognized multiple awards including the Till and McCulloch Award from the International Society of Experimental Hematology, the Wilson S. Stone Award from MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research and the Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology.

Dr. Armstrong received his MD and PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas where he performed his PhD under the mentorship of Nobel laureates Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein. He performed his residency and fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Children’s Hospital Boston, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School.