Sean Downing

Sean Downing earned his Master of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 1996. His thesis was titled “Expression Patterns of p53 and p21waf1 During Mammary Gland Development: A Possible Mechanism for Involution”. Sean went on to earn his PhD at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia earning his degree in Cancer Genetics from the Faculty of Medicine. His PhD dissertation was titled “Functional Status of Mutant p53 Proteins Found in Prostate Cancer and Their Contribution to Metastatic Disease.” Dr. Downing was a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Phil Kantoff’s laboratory at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Instructor of Surgery in Dr. Judah Folkman’s laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Downing’s work has focused on the genetic basis of cancer and biomarker discovery. He was a co-inventor of the first commercially available pan-cancer genetic test created by Foundation Medicine. Sean is currently Group Leader for Tissue Imaging at PerkinElmer, Inc. in Hopkinton, MA.