Peter van Galen, PhD

The Van Galen Laboratory studies normal and malignant hematopoiesis, with a focus on hematopoietic stem cell aging and the development of acute myeloid leukemia. Our projects span age-associated inflammatory pathways, targeted therapies for leukemia, and anti-tumor immunity. We use innovative experimental and computational tools—including single-cell sequencing, bioinformatics, and machine learning—to analyze blood cells at the genetic, transcriptional, and epigenetic levels. Our goal is to translate a deeper understanding of blood cell biology into new therapies that improve human health.

Biosketch
Dr. van Galen received his BSc in Biology and MSc in Cancer Genomics and Developmental Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. In 2009, he joined the laboratory of Dr. John Dick at the University of Toronto with co-supervision by Dr. Maarten van Lohuizen at the University of Amsterdam. He studied transcriptional regulation and stress pathways in hematopoiesis, and graduated cum laude following his defense “Molecular regulation of human hematopoietic stem cells”. In 2014, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Bradley Bernstein at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston. Dr. van Galen developed technologies to uncover epigenetic, transcriptional and genetic features of acute myeloid leukemia cells. In 2019, he joined the Hematology Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Department of Medicine of Harvard Medical School to start his laboratory.