Sam Peng, Ph.D.

Sam Peng is a core institute member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Pfizer Gerald D. Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MIT. His lab develops optical imaging techniques and nanoprobes to enable long-term single-molecule imaging in living systems and reveal molecular interactions that are responsible for human diseases.

The multidisciplinary research in the Peng group aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which human diseases occur. Lab members develop and integrate a diverse toolbox spanning single-molecule microscopy, super-resolution microscopy, spectroscopy, nanomaterial engineering, biophysics, chemical biology, and quantitative modeling to uncover previously unexplored biological processes. With bright and photostable probes, they have unprecedented capability to record ultralong-term “molecular movies” in living systems with high spatiotemporal resolutions and reveal molecular interactions that drive biological functions. Peng’s group is particularly interested in studying molecular dynamics, protein-protein interactions, and cellular heterogeneity involved in neurobiology and cancer biology.

Peng earned his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. from MIT in physical chemistry. He completed his postdoctoral research at Stanford University, where he developed long-term single molecule imaging in live cells using a novel class of nanoprobes. He applied this new technique to study axonal transport in neurons and the molecular dynamics of dynein motors.  His work has been recognized by the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, Beckman Young Investigator Award, and the Sloan Matter-to-Life Award. He is also a recipient of a Merkin Institute Fellowship at the Broad.

Photo courtesy of Christophe Testi.