Golub is a world-renowned physician-scientist who pioneered the application of genomics to cancer biology and therapeutic discovery. He is one of the first researchers to use genomic approaches to molecularly characterize human tumors, laying the foundation for the use of genomics to classify, diagnose, and treat cancer. Throughout his career, Golub has advocated for the free, rapid sharing of large-scale genomic data and tools to accelerate the pace of biomedicine, and is deeply committed to patient-focused research.

Early in his career as a pediatric oncologist and cancer researcher, Golub made key discoveries on the genetic and molecular origins of the most common form of childhood leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). These fundamental insights led to changes in treatment that are now the standard of care. This groundbreaking research stemmed from Golub’s dual role as a physician and scientist, and it helped crystallize his strongly held view that continually learning from patients—in an unbiased and systematic way—is the surest route to uncovering the root causes of disease and identifying novel, effective treatments.

Golub’s innovative use of gene-expression analysis to classify tumors catalyzed the creation of new genomic tools and approaches that have had a lasting impact on cancer research and drug discovery. Together with scientists from across Broad and partner institutions, Golub helped develop many of these tools, including analytical methods for studying genome-wide expression profiles of tumors, such as Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). He led other large-scale projects, such as the Connectivity Map, which uses gene expression profiles to analyze cellular perturbation, with the aim of discovering relationships between cell states, gene function, and drug action.