The Lucille Castori Center supports Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s efforts to spearhead progress in the rapidly advancing field of research related to infections in cancer patients, microbial causes of cancer, and inflammation associated with the development or progression of cancer. The Castori Center brings together existing laboratories and investigators with research interests focused on these three areas. Investigators include Eric Pamer, M.D., the Director of the Castori Center and and one of its founding members, and founding members Michael Glickman, M.D.; Alexander Rudensky, Ph.D.; Stewart Shuman, M.D., Ph.D.; and Joao Xavier, Ph.D. To accomplish its objectives, the Castori Center helps underwrite academic and research activities that focus on microbial causes of cancer, infections associated with cancer treatment and inflammatory responses that lead to cancer. It supports the Molecular Microbiology Core Facility, which provides investigators with technical platforms and equipment to characterize microbial populations in clinical and experimental samples. The Castori Center sponsors an annual research symposium featuring a public lecture and seminars by leading investigators who address such topics as the role of inflammatory cells in tumors and the role of commensal bacteria in carcinogenesis.
