Philip Kranzusch

2025 National Award Winner — Faculty

Philip Kranzusch

Current Position:
Professor

Institution:
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute & Harvard Medical School

Discipline:
Microbiology

Recognized for: Discovering that human innate immunity evolved from ancient pathways in bacteria, explaining the molecular basis for how human cells defend against infections and cancer.


Areas of Research Interest and Expertise:
Antiviral Immunity, Biochemistry, Structural Biology, Evolutionary Biology

Previous Positions:

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Berkeley (Advisors: Jennifer A. Doudna & James M. Berger)
PhD, Harvard University (Advisor: Sean P.J. Whelan)
BA, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Research Summary:

Understanding how human cells detect infection or cancer—and decide when to trigger an immune response—is essential for diagnosing, treating, and preventing disease. Philip Kranzusch, PhD, uncovered that key components of human immunity, including those targeted by vaccines and in cancer immunotherapy, evolved from ancient bacterial defenses against viruses. The Kranzusch Lab combines structural biology, biochemistry, and screening to define molecular rules of immune signaling, revealing a new framework for immunity conserved from bacteria to humans. By reshaping fundamental understanding of immune pathways, this work opens new avenues for therapies that harness the body’s natural defenses against infections, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

“The Blavatnik Award is an incredible honor for our lab's discovery that human innate immunity evolved from ancient pathways in bacteria. We are excited to build on this foundation to define universal rules that control host-virus interactions across all kingdoms of life.”

Key Publications:

  1. W. Zhou, A.T. Whiteley, C.C. de Oliveira Mann, B.R. Morehouse, R.P. Nowak, E.S. Fischer, N.S. Gray, J.J. Mekalanos, P.J. Kranzusch. Structure of the human cGAS–DNA complex reveals enhanced control of immune surveillance. Cell, 2018.
  2. A.T. Whiteley, J.B. Eaglesham, C.C. de Oliveira Mann, B.R. Morehouse, B. Lowey, E.A. Nieminen, O. Danilchanka, D.S. King, A.S.Y. Lee, J.J. Mekalanos, P.J. Kranzusch. Bacterial cGAS-like enzymes synthesize diverse nucleotide signals. Nature, 2019.
  3. B.R. Morehouse, A.A. Govande, A. Millman, A.F.A. Keszei, B. Lowey, G. Ofir, S. Shao, R. Sorek, P.J. Kranzusch. STING cyclic dinucleotide sensing originated in bacteria. Nature, 2020.
  4. S.J. Hobbs, J. Nomburg, J.A. Doudna, P.J. Kranzusch. Animal and bacterial viruses share conserved mechanisms of immune evasion. Cell, 2024.

Other Honors:

2023 Claire W. and Richard P. Morse Research Award, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
2022 Lloyd J. Old STAR Award, Cancer Research Institute
2021 Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH
2020 Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award, Burroughs Wellcome Fund
2020 Emerging Leader Award, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research
2019 Early Career Basic Research Award, American Society for Microbiology
2019 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, Pew Foundation
2017 V Scholar Award with Abeloff Distinction, V Foundation
2017 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Life Sciences Research Foundation
2012 Bernard N. Fields Prize, Harvard Medical School

In the Media:

Website