Dr. Chris Sander

Biography

Chris Sander is a Professor in the PhD Program in Biological Biomedical Sciences at Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on solving biological problems using quantitative methods in bioinformatics and statistical physics, along with applications in cancer precision medicine and structural evolutionary biology. Sander has contributed significantly to the National Cancer Genome Atlas, providing open-source bioinformatics tools and collaborating closely with clinicians to analyze cancer genomics. He has developed predictive network models to understand molecular cell-cell interactions and identify promising combination therapies to circumvent drug resistance. His work employs systematic perturbation experiments and rich observational readouts to derive quantitative predictive models, particularly in understanding the roles of intracellular signaling and oncogenic signatures across 10,000 patients. Furthermore, Sander collaborates with the Marks group at Harvard to apply statistical physics towards evolutionary and structural biology problems, such as residue contact prediction and 3D fold prediction using next-generation sequencing data. He is committed to fostering collaborative environments that enhance scientific progress and promote innovative communication of scientific results to address real-world challenges in human health, especially in cancer research.

Research Interests