Dr. Lyden completed his M.D. at Brown University, Ph.D. at the University of Vermont, residency in Pediatrics at Duke University, and a clinical/postdoctoral fellowship in Pediatric Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Currently, he is the Stavros S. Niarchos Professor of Pediatrics and Cell and Developmental Biology at Weill Cornell Medicine at Cornell University. He defined the concept of the “pre-metastatic niche” (PMN), where tumor-secreted factors recruit bone marrow-derived progenitor cells to distant organ sites to provide a platform for metastasis. Dr. Lyden’s work underscores the systemic nature of cancer and that only by understanding complex long-range interactions between the tumor and its host can cancer be conquered. As such, Dr. Lyden then went on to demonstrate that tumor-derived extracellular vesicle (EV)-mediated crosstalk initiates the PMN and coordinates metastatic progression. He identified key proteins and nucleic acids, specifically double stranded DNA, in EVs and demonstrated that EV cargoes support thrombosis and vascular leakiness in addition to PMN formation. He has defined the role of tumor EV integrins in organotropic metastasis, answering in part Stephen Paget’s “seed and soil” hypothesis on organ-specific metastasis.Moreover, he devised new technology that led Dr. Lyden to identify a new particle named exomere, the most prominent tumor particle, which packages distinct proteins (including enzymes that regulate metabolism), lipids and glycans. He has identified novel EV markers as well as pan-cancer and cancer type-specific EV biomarkers for early cancer detection and prediction of metastastic disease in patients with cancer. Most recently in extrahepatic models of metastasis, his lab demonstrated that small EVs and exomeres can promote fatty liver generation and metabolic dysregulation in the liver which in turn contribute to immune dysfunction, cachexia, and cardiovascular disease, further illustrating the systemic effects of EVs and particles in cancer.
Dr. Lyden is an elected Member of the Association of American Physicians (2021) and an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2022). Last but not least, Dr. Lyden is the recipient of the 2024 Princess Lilian Award for excellence in research and mentoring by the Belgium Royal Family, as well as the 2024 Paget-Ewing Award, the hightest award by the Metastasis Research Society, and the National Institutes of Health R35 Outstanding Investigator Award, that supports his efforts to explore the systemic effects of metastatic cancer.
