Dan Peer's Biography

Dan Peer, Head, Tel Aviv University

Dan Peer is a principal investigator and a senior lecturer that leads an NIH-funded laboratory at Tel Aviv University. Dan received all his education in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Tel Aviv University, Israel. From January 2005 to August 2008, he worked at Harvard Medical School, where he still holds a visiting scientist appointment. He jointed the Department of Cell Research & Immunology, in the Faculty of life sciences at Tel Aviv University in September 2008 to establish the laboratory of Nanomedicine. Dan’s research was among the first to demonstrate systemic delivery of RNAi using targeted nano-carriers to the immune system and the first to utilise RNAi for in-vivo validation of new drug targets within the immune system. His current interests include the generation of novel platforms for delivery of RNAi payloads into specific cell types and the utilization of these nanocarriers for in vivo discovery and validation of new drug targets. In addition, he is active in understanding the immuno-toxicity of novel RNAi formulations. He is the editor of a new “Handbook of Harnessing Biomaterials for Nanomedicine” that will be published during 2011, an associate editor of the journal of biomedical nanotechnology and on the editorial board of the journals Nanotechnology of the institute of Physics in the UK, and the Journal of Controlled Release. Dan received more than 20 awards and honours (partial list): He is a Marie Curie Fellow of the European Union, An Alon Fellow, and received the Pfizer Award in Drug Discovery and Delivery. He also received the 2010 Innovator Award from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. He is the inventor and co-inventor of more than 30 patents (both granted and pending). He is also a co-founder of ORUUS Pharma and Quiet Therapeutics that were founded based on his work and aim to bring the area of personalized medicine utilizing nanotechnology into the clinic.