Peter Danenberg

Biography

Dr. Danenberg received a B.S. degree in chemistry from the Case Institute of Technology (now Case-Western Reserve University) and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He did postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Charles Heidelberger at the University of Wisconsin's McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research. The initial phase of Dr. Danenberg's research career involved studies on the mechanisms of action of cancer drugs, with particular emphasis on the interaction of the fluorinated pyrimidines with the enzyme thymidylate synthase. This work ultimately gave rise to the still widely-used drug combination of 5-fluorourcil and folinic acid. His subsequent research was directed at identifying tumor biomarkers that would predict response to anti-cancer agents with the aim of promoting the concept of personalized medicine in cancer. Positive results from these studies, together with a procedure that Dr. Danenberg patented for isolating intact mRNA from paraffin-embedded tissues, formed the basis for the founding of the biotech-diagnostic company Response Genetics, Inc.

Research Interest

 Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine