Peter Van Loo

Peter Van Loo is a Professor in the Department of Genetics within the Division of Discovery Science at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, holding a joint appointment in the Department of Genomic Medicine. He additionally serves as a Visiting Group Leader at The Francis Crick Institute in London, maintaining significant international research collaborations while leading computational oncology efforts at MD Anderson.

Dr. Van Loo pioneered the field of 'molecular archeology of cancer,' developing computational techniques to reconstruct tumor evolutionary histories from whole-genome sequencing data. His research deciphers copy-number alteration patterns and subclonal architectures across cancer types, revealing critical insights into cancer development timelines, metastatic mechanisms, and therapeutic resistance pathways. This work bridges computational biology with clinical oncology to identify evolutionary vulnerabilities in tumors.

His scientific contributions have been recognized with prestigious awards:

• Cancer Research UK Future Leaders in Cancer Research Prize (2015)
• VIB Alumni Award (2017)
• UT STARs award (2022)

As a CPRIT scholar and genomics lead for the Sarcoma arm of the 100,000 Genomes Project, Dr. Van Loo secures substantial research funding through major national initiatives. His leadership in the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomics Consortium demonstrates exceptional collaborative capacity. The Van Loo Lab provides a dynamic environment for computational cancer genomics research, focusing on algorithm development for evolutionary trajectory mapping and offering training opportunities for bioinformaticians pursuing careers in precision oncology.