Karl Munger

Vice Dean for Research and Dorothy Todd Bishop Research Professor and Chair
Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology

karl.munger@tufts.edu

150 Harrison Ave

Full Profile (facultyprofiles.tufts.edu)

Full Profile

Career Highlights / Publications Research Professional Activities Courses / Teaching Activities

Research/Areas of Interest

My research group studies the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the oncogenicity of "high-risk" human papillomaviruses (HPVs), which cause almost all cases of cervical carcinomas and a large proportion of other anogenital tract and oral cancers. While cervical cancer rates have been decreasing in the US, rates of HPV associated anal and oral cancers are on the rise, and cervical carcinomas remain a major cause of cancer death in women, worldwide. Current prophylactic vaccines do not alter disease progression in already infected individuals and since vaccination rates in the US remain low, high-risk HPV infections will remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality. We also investigate cutaneous HPVs, as well as certain animal papillomaviruses, to investigate how infections with these viruses contribute to skin carcinogenesis.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Zurich, Switzerland, 1986

Biography

Karl Munger earned bachelor's and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Zurich. His undergraduate and Ph.D. research focused on metallothioneins, a class of small molecular weight proteins that bind to heavy metal ions, including zinc, copper, and cadmium. He conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, supported by a John E. Fogarty Postdoctoral Fellowship, followed by an Advanced Training Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation. During this time, his research shifted to focus on human papillomaviruses (HPVs), a group of viruses associated with various human cancers, particularly cervical carcinoma. Munger made significant discoveries in this field, including the identification of two oncogenic proteins encoded by cancer-associated HPVs, E6 and E7, and the elucidation of E7's mechanism of inactivating the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein.

Munger was later promoted to Visiting Associate at the NIH, where he directed a small research group, before moving to Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, he progressed through the ranks and was promoted to Professor of Medicine in 2013. During his tenure, Munger served as a Visiting Professor at the Biology Department of the University of Padua (Italy), the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, DC, and as a Visiting Scientist at the G. R. Harrison Spectroscopy Laboratory at MIT in Cambridge, MA.

In 2014, Dr. Munger relocated his research group to Tufts University School of Medicine, where he currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology. Since 2020, he has also served as the Chair of the Department. In addition to maintaining an NIH-funded research program, Munger is dedicated to teaching and mentoring graduate students. He contributes to various courses, serves on numerous student advisory committees, and participates in outreach programs aimed at increasing diversity in the biomedical workforce offered through the Graduate School of Biomedical Science.

Throughout his career, Munger has authored over 200 papers, which have garnered more than 38,000 citations (h-index=91). He also serves on the editorial boards of multiple scientific journals and is a member of grant review panels for national and international funding agencies.