Dr. Gerd Pfeifer earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Frankfurt Medical School, he joined the Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif. in 1988. In 1993, he became full member of City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center and, in 1999, he was promoted to Professor of Biology at Beckman Research Institute. He also served as Program Leader for the City of Hope’s Programs in DNA Damage and Repair, Cancer Biology, and Lung Cancer; as chair of the Department of Biology (2001–2008); and as chair of the Department of Cancer Biology (2008–2012). At City of Hope, he was the Lester M. and Irene C. Finkelstein Chair in Biology (2008–2014). He joined VAI in 2014 as a Professor in the Department of Epigenetics. In 2015, he was elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).