Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | United States
Dr. Eric Charles Holland is a globally esteemed physician-scientist whose groundbreaking contributions have significantly advanced the field of neuro-oncology. Currently serving as Professor in the Division of Human Biology and Senior Vice President & Director at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, WA, Dr. Holland has dedicated his career to integrating molecular biology with clinical neurosurgery to develop innovative therapies for brain tumors, particularly glioblastoma. Dr. Holland earned his BS in Chemistry from Miami University, followed by a PhD in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology from the University of Chicago, and an MD from Stanford University. He pursued postdoctoral training in both HIV gene expression in Paul Berg’s lab at Stanford and glioma modeling in Harold Varmus’s lab at the NIH both Nobel laureates. He completed neurosurgical training at UCLA, laying the groundwork for a career at the intersection of science and clinical practice. He has held academic and clinical appointments at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Cornell University, and the University of Washington. Notably, he served as Director of the Brain Tumor Center at MSKCC and the Alvord Brain Tumor Center in Seattle, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to brain cancer treatment. He also plays a leadership role in Seattle Translational Tumor Research (STTR). A prolific researcher, Dr. Holland has authored 297 scientific publications, garnering over 37,000 citations, and holds an h-index of 95, reflecting the high impact and sustained relevance of his work. His research has advanced understanding of glioma genetics, tumor microenvironments, and translational therapies. He is also recognized for his contributions to science policy and international collaborations, including efforts to expand cancer care in China. Dr. Holland is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Farber Award, Bressler Scholars Award, and an Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University.
Featured Publications
Kumar, S., Jiang, J., Donald-Paladino, M. S., Chen, J., Gutierrez, A., Federation, A. J., Szulzewsky, F., Holland, E. C., Ferguson, F. M., & Nabet, B. (2025, June 24). Development of PROTACs for targeted degradation of oncogenic TRK fusions [Preprint]. bioRxiv.
Cimino, P. J., Keiser, D. J., Parrish, A. G., Holland, E. C., & Szulzewsky, F. (2025, April 9). C-terminal fusion partner activity contributes to the oncogenic functions of YAP1::TFE3 [Preprint]. bioRxiv.
Zheng, Y., Henikoff, J., Henikoff, S., Ahmad, K., Kugel, S., Szulzewsky, F., Holland, E., Russell, Z. R., Paranal, R. N., Xu, Y., et al. (2025, February 14). RNA Polymerase II at histone genes predicts outcome in human cancer. Science, 379(6673), eads2169.
Arora, S., Holland, E., Vardharajan, S., Taylor, M., Sahm, F., Mack, S. C., Sievers, P., Korshunov, A., Nuechterlein, N., Jensen, M., et al. (2024, October 22). Integrated transcriptomic landscape of medulloblastoma and ependymoma reveals novel tumor subtype-specific biology [Preprint]. bioRxiv.
Szulzewsky, F., Thirimanne, H. N., & Holland, E. C. (2024, March 18). Meningioma: Current updates on genetics, classification, and mouse modeling. Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences, 129(1), Article 10579.
Henikoff, S., Henikoff, J. G., Paranal, R. M., Greene, J. E., Zheng, Y., Russell, Z. R., Szulzewsky, F., Kugel, S., Holland, E. C., & Ahmad, K. (2024, March 3). RNA Polymerase II hypertranscription in cancer FFPE samples [Preprint]. bioRxiv.
Henikoff, S., Henikoff, J. G., Ahmad, K., Paranal, R. M., Janssens, D. H., Russell, Z. R., Szulzewsky, F., Kugel, S., & Holland, E. C. (2023, September 22). Epigenomic analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples by CUT&Tag. Nature Communications, 14, Article 5977.