Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Harvard College, Cambridge MA	A.B	1984	Biochemistry
Cambridge University, Cambridge UK	PhD	1987	Biochemistry
UCSF-Varmus Lab, San Francisco	Posdoc	1993	Cancer Biology

Research in the Sorger Lab focuses on signal transduction networks controlling cell proliferation and death, dysregulation of these networks in cancer and inflammation and mechanisms of action of therapeutic drugs targeting signaling proteins. His group uses mathematical and experimental approaches to construct and test computational models of oncogenic and signaling networks in cell lines, patient-derived cells and murine disease models. The Sorger Lab also develops open-source software for analyzing biological networks and drug mechanism of action and it participates in multiple collaborative programs working to improve data access and reproducibility. Recent research extends a systems pharmacology approach to high-dimensional analysis of biopsy samples and the interpretation of clinical trials.

As founding head of the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science (HiTS) and its Laboratory Systems Pharmacology (LSP) Peter leads a multi-institutional effort to advance the basic and translational science used to develop new medicines, create novel drug combinations and identify responsive patients. The LSP applies systems approaches to understanding and mitigating adverse drug effects and to designing new clinical trials. The recently established Harvard-MIT Center of Regulatory Sciences focuses on improving how drugs are evaluated, brought to market and used in patients. HiTS includes faculty from seven institutions.

• Cancer Biology, Systems Pharmacology, Single-Cell Imaging, Clinical Trials