Gustavo W. Leone Ph.D.

Grace E. DeWolff Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology

Gastrointestinal Cancer Disparities Center of Economic Excellence

•  Director, Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina

• Senior Associate Dean for Oncology, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina

• Extensive contributions towards the biology of E2F and the tumor microenvironment

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Genetics, Duke University Medical Center

• Ph.D., Molecular Virology, University of Calgary

• BSc, Biochemistry, University of Calgary

Dr. Leone joined MUSC in 2017 as Director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC). A Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, he holds the Grace E. DeWolff Endowed Chair in Medical Oncology and is Senior Associate Dean for Oncology in the College of Medicine. As director, Dr. Leone oversees patient care and cancer-related research efforts at the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. 

Dr. Leone’s research focuses on identifying how disruption of critical cell cycle regulatory pathways contributes to uncontrolled cell growth. His laboratory utilizes genetic models (worms and mice) to study Rb/E2F & PTEN signaling in the context of cell cycle control, developmental biology and cancer, as well as the genetics and biology of PTEN and the tumor microenvironment. His past research includes graduate work in biochemical and biophysical approaches to study protein function and virology.

While at OSUCCC, Dr. Leone developed the Pelotonia Fellowship Program for undergraduates, graduate students and postdocs at The Ohio State University. The Program has supported nearly 400 awards since 2011. He has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and serves as the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on several research grants funded by the National Cancer Institute. 

HCC Researcher Profile