Rate My Professor Eric Holland

Eric Holland, MD, PhD, is a distinguished physician-scientist and neurosurgeon specializing in neuro-oncology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, where he serves as Senior Vice President and Director of the Human Biology Division. He holds the Pigott Family Endowed Chair and the Endowed Chair in Cancer Biology at Fred Hutch, as well as the Chap and Eve Alvord and Elias Alvord Chair in Neuro-Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Additionally, he directs the Seattle Translational Tumor Research program spanning Fred Hutch, UW Medicine, and Seattle Children's. Holland earned a BS in Chemistry from Miami University in 1981, a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Chicago in 1985, and an MD from Stanford University in 1990, followed by neurosurgery residency training at the University of California, Los Angeles. Before joining Fred Hutch in 2013, he advanced brain cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center, establishing a premier brain tumor program.

Holland's research in the Biology field centers on brain tumors, particularly glioblastomas, employing genetically engineered mouse models that faithfully recapitulate human tumor biology to dissect mechanisms of tumor initiation, progression, therapy resistance, and the tumor microenvironment. His pioneering work has demonstrated that glioblastoma comprises multiple molecular subtypes, identified stem-like tumor cells responsible for treatment resistance, and distinguished driver mutations from passenger alterations. These models are widely utilized by researchers to test novel therapies. Key publications include 'Glioblastoma multiforme: the terminator' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2000), 'Combined activation of Ras and Akt in neural progenitors induces glioblastoma formation in mice' (Science, 2000), and recent works such as 'Meningioma transcriptomic landscape demonstrates novel subtypes with regional associated biology and patient outcome' (Cell Genomics, 2024) and 'Integrated transcriptomic landscape of medulloblastoma and ependymoma reveals novel tumor subtype-specific biology' (Neuro-Oncology, 2025). Holland's contributions have earned him election to the National Academy of Medicine in 2009, the National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award in 2021, and multiple endowed chairs. He integrates laboratory research with clinical neurosurgery for glioblastoma patients and leads efforts in gene fusion-driven tumors and data visualization tools like Oncoscape.