Eric Fischer

Eric S. Fischer, PhD is Independent Investigator and Director of the Chemical Biology Program at
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Associate Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular
Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Director of the DFCI/Deerfield Center
for Protein Degradation.
Dr. Fischer’s research focuses on understanding the molecular architecture, function, and
regulation of complex cellular signaling machines and their involvement in cellular processes.
His lab leverages this knowledge to develop new strategies for small-molecule-mediated
modulation. Using biochemistry, chemical biology, and cell biology methods, his lab has
contributed to the understanding of the efficacy and adverse activity of thalidomide and related
drugs. Beyond defining the mechanism of action for this transformative cancer drug and solving
a decade-old mystery of pharmaceutical sciences, this work inspired numerous projects that
intend to utilize similar principles to redirect ligase activity to new targets. This represents a
new therapeutic modality often referred to as targeted protein degradation. Dr. Fischer’s lab
helped to establish this approach and has defined many of the underlying principles for small
molecule degraders. Dr. Fischer’s work has been recognized with awards including, the Damon
Runyon Cancer Research Foundation’s 2017 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, and
the Mark Foundation’s 2018 Emerging Leaders Award. Dr. Fischer is a co-founder of Civetta
Therapeutics, Neomorph, Inc and Proximity Therapeutics.
Dr. Fischer completed his undergraduate training at the Universities of Hamburg (Germany) and
Basel (Switzerland) and completed doctoral training at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for
Biomedical Research, also in Basel. Dr. Fischer joined the Dana-Farber faculty in 2015