Kenneth M Kaye, MD

Dr. Kenneth M. Kaye completed his medical degree with honors at Harvard Medical School, his residency in Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and then entered an Infectious Diseases fellowship at the Combined Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Beth Israel Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute program in Boston, Massachusetts.

He performed his research training in the laboratory of Dr. Elliott Kieff, where he focused on the LMP1 oncogene of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). He joined the faculty in 1991 and is now Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Kaye’s research focuses on tumor virology. Viruses cause a substantial portion of human cancer. His laboratory investigates Kaposi’s sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV). KSHV has a causative role in Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS), primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman’s disease, an aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder. KS is a leading cause of cancer in AIDS, and is epidemic in sub Saharan Africa. There are currently no specific therapies for these tumors. His laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital investigates the molecular mechanisms used by KSHV to persist in cells and induce tumor cell growth. A better understanding of these mechanisms should lead to new strategies to prevent and treat these tumors.