Eric Fischer

Eric Fischer, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and a Principal Investigator in the Department of Cancer Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

His research focuses on understanding the complex mechanisms that underlie signaling through the ubiquitin proteasome system, and function and regulation of multi-component ubiquitin ligases and their role in disease. Leveraging the in depth understanding for therapeutic intervention through novel small molecule modalities is a second focus of his research and has significantly contributed to our understanding of small molecule mediated protein degradation. Eric has been recognized for his pioneering work on the structure of cereblon and the mechanism of action of thalidomide, which continues to guide the development of IMiDs and related future drugs. Eric also co-directs the newly formed Center for Protein Degradation, a unique collaboration between Dana-Farber and Deerfield Management. Eric completed his undergraduate training at the Universities of Hamburg (Germany) and Basel (Switzerland). He received his Ph.D. in structural biology cum laude from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research and the University of Basel in the laboratory of Dr. Nicholas Thomä.

Eric has received numerous honors recognizing his research achievements and promise, including a 2015 Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research Team Award, a 2018 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and an Emerging Leader Award from the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research.