Curtis C. Harris
Curtis C. Harris (born 1943) is Chief, Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, CCR (Center for Cancer Research), NCI (National Cancer Institute), NIH (National Institute of Health) and Adjunct Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. A founder of the field of molecular epidemiology, his research demonstrated that person-to-person variation in gene-environment interactions determines cancer risk. He made the decisive findings and discoveries that laid the foundation of molecular epidemiology of cancer and the role of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in human carcinogenesis and aging. Together with Bert Vogelstein, he made the seminal discovery that TP53 mutations occur in the majority of human cancer. He is also one of the authors of a murder/espionage thriller, High Hand, published under the pseudonym Curtis J. James