Download Dr. Carbone’s Curriculum Vitae (CV, PDF version)

Dr. Michele Carbone conducts his scientific research at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, a state-of-the-art research facility located in Honolulu, HI.

“I believe that success in life is determined by a combination of good luck and hard work,” says Dr. Carbone. He says that he felt very lucky to be offered a Visiting Fellow position at the National Institutes of Health’s Child Health Division, part of the National Institutes of Health, soon after obtaining his medical degree from the Rome’s La Sapienza University.  “Little did I know,” mused Dr. Carbone, “that when I accepted that position that I would end up spending the rest of my professional career in the United States.”

After working at the NIH for several years, Dr. Carbone realized that he loved the work environment so characteristic of the US: an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and dedication, fostering academic and professional growth.

Dr. Michele Carbone is a board-certified Pathologist, and most of his research has focused on malignant mesothelioma, a cancer that is often associated with asbestos exposure. His research into why most people who have been exposed to asbestos do not get mesothelioma has led him to investigation of interactions between genetics and the environment.

Dr. Carbone is a strong proponent of multidisciplinary collaborative team research. His team’s research has been characterized by laboratory research, fieldwork, and by teamwork. The research team includes scientists from multiple countries, who specialize in different disciplines including pathology, surgery, genetics, molecular biology, geology and mineralogy, and public health.

New Research (July & August 2025) Demonstrates that Familial Mesothelioma is a Different Disease than Asbestos-Induced Mesothelioma  

The research team of Dr. Carbone at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center discovered a new variant of mesothelioma. They discovered that this variant of mesothelioma responds to therapy and these patients lives can be saved when these tumors are detected early on. Their new manuscript is titled Clinical and Pathological Genotyping of Mesotheliomas Developing in Carriers of Germline BAP1 Mutation and is published in the prestigious Journal of Thoracic Oncology in July 2025. 

The Carbone team went from proposing that familial mesothelioma was caused by genetics (Roushdy-Hammady et al. The Lancet 2001); to discovering the first gene responsible for familial mesothelioma (Testa et al, Nature Genetics 2011); to identifying the mechanisms underlying the potent tumor suppressor activity of BAP1 (Bononi et al, Nature 2017); to identifying additional genes that when mutated in the gremlin cause mesothelioma (Bononi et al, PNAS 2020; Novelli et al, PNAS 2024); to the present discovery, the result of over 25 years working with families affected by multiple cases of mesothelioma. We discovered that familial mesothelioma is a different disease  compared to asbestos-induced mesothelioma because it is much less aggressive and the patients can live long lives when properly treated. 

Our findings have already been independently validated in a recently accepted paper reporting the results of a clinical trial conducted at the US National Cancer Institute Bethesda Medical Center by the research team of Dr. David Schrump which is also in press in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology:

https://www.jto.org/article/S1556-0864(25)00984-0/fulltext

Important Facts About Malignant Mesothelioma

• About 3,000 people die in the US each year of malignant mesothelioma.
• Some people may have genetic mutations that predispose them to mesothelioma, uveal (eye) melanoma, and some other cancers.
• Most people exposed to asbestos do not develop mesothelioma; only about 5% of people exposed to asbestos go on to develop mesothelioma
• People with this genetic mutation can be pre-screened, and mesothelioma may be identified at earlier stages, and thus patients may be able to take advantage of early interventions
• If you are a patient with mesothelioma, or you are a friend/family member of someone with mesothelioma, please go to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF) website for treatment information, updates on current research, and asbestos prevention guidelines.

Email:  mcarbone@cc.hawaii.ed