A man smiles in front of a green glass periodic table sculpture.

The Peng Laboratory 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.

Sam Peng

Pfizer Inc. - Gerald Laubach Career Development Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Core Institute Member, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Research Areas

The multidisciplinary research in the Peng group aims to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which human diseases occur. We 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, we have unprecedented capability to record ultralong-term “molecular movies” in living systems with high spatiotemporal resolutions and reveal molecular interactions that drive biological functions. We are particularly interested in studying molecular dynamics, protein-protein interactions, and cellular heterogeneity involved in neurobiology and cancer biology.