{"id":1177,"date":"2025-08-07T19:40:38","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/?page_id=1177"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:40:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:40:38","slug":"samuel-f-bakhoum-md-phd-gr09-med13","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/boa\/samuel-f-bakhoum-md-phd-gr09-med13\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuel F. Bakhoum, MD, PhD (GR’09 MED’13)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Samuel\u202fF.\u202fBakhoum, MD, PhD, is a globally recognized physician\u2011scientist and biotech leader whose research on chromosomal instability (CIN) has transformed our understanding of cancer metastasis. He uncovered how chromosome mis-segregation leads to ruptured micronuclei and cytosolic DNA, chronically activating inflammatory pathways to drive tumor progression. His lab further demonstrated that this CIN-driven innate immune signaling remodels the tumor microenvironment to support metastatic spread.<\/p>\n

In 2019 he co-founded Volastra Therapeutics to translate CIN biology into cancer therapies. Volastra has raised nearly $120M in funding over 4 rounds. Investors include, Polaris Partners, Eli Lilly, Arch Ventures, Vida Ventures, and Droia Ventures, among others. Dr. Bakhoum serves as Volastra\u2019s Chief Scientific Officer and sits on its Board of Directors. Volastra is advancing two differentiated oral KIF18A inhibitors\u2014VLS\u20111488 (first-in-human Phase\u202fI\/II, FDA Fast Track) and sovilnesib (Phase\u202fIb, in\u2011licensed from Amgen; also Fast Track)\u2014alongside a growing discovery pipeline targeting CIN vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

Before joining Volastra, he spent six years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an Assistant and Associate Member in the Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program and the Department of Radiation Oncology, where he published over 80 papers on chromosomal instability and cancer progression. He completed his MD\u2013PhD at Dartmouth\u2019s Geisel School of Medicine, followed by postdoctoral training with Dr. Lewis Cantley at Weill Cornell and a radiation oncology residency at MSK.<\/p>\n

Dr.\u202fBakhoum has received \u2013 or was a finalist for \u2013 prestigious awards including the NIH Director\u2019s Early Independence Award, Blavatnik Award, Pershing Square Sohn Prize, BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award. He has presented plenary lectures, including at AACR, and remains Adjunct Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at Geisel, mentoring trainees and advising the Dartmouth\u2011Hitchcock Radiation Oncology section.<\/p>\n

Dr.\u202fBakhoum brings to the Geisel Board of Advisors a unique blend of pioneering science, clinical insight, and biotech leadership, driving a new era of CIN-targeted cancer therapies for patients worldwide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samuel\u202fF.\u202fBakhoum, MD, PhD, is a globally recognized physician\u2011scientist and biotech leader whose research on chromosomal instability (CIN) has transformed our understanding of cancer metastasis. He uncovered how chromosome mis-segregation leads to ruptured micronuclei and cytosolic DNA, chronically activating inflammatory pathways to drive tumor progression. His lab further demonstrated that this CIN-driven innate immune signaling remodels the tumor microenvironment to support metastatic spread.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":33,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1177","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","author-6"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1180,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1177\/revisions\/1180"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/deansoffice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}