Jeff Perry, Ph.D.
- Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
Jeff Perry, Ph.D., joined City of Hope® Cancer Center Duarte in 2021 and is a member of the Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine at the Beckman Research Institute. His research program integrates structural biology, fragment-based and structure-guided drug discovery and chemical biology to address fundamental problems in cancer and metabolic disease.
The Perry Lab focuses on elucidating the structural and mechanistic basis of genome maintenance, DNA repair and signal transduction pathways, with the goal of translating these insights into novel chemical tools and therapeutic strategies. By leveraging structure-guided approaches together with rigorous biophysical and biochemical validation, his work aims to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in disease-relevant protein hubs that regulate key cellular pathways, enabling the development of next-generation small-molecule therapeutics. Dr. Perry has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and is an inventor on multiple patents in these areas.
Dr. Perry was raised in the United Kingdom and received his Ph.D. training in the laboratory of Sir Tom L. Blundell, FRS, in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training as a research fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and later served as a visiting scientist, senior research fellow and staff scientist in the laboratory of John A. Tainer at The Scripps Research Institute. From 2014 to 2021, Dr. Perry was an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California Riverside before joining City of Hope.
Education & Experience
Degrees
- 2001, Ph.D., Natural Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- 1996, B.S., Honors, Biochemistry with a year in industry, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London, United Kingdom
Fellowship
- 2001-2006, Postdoctoral Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories and Visiting Scientist, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
Professional Experience
- 2025-present, Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology and Molecular Medicine, City of Hope Cancer Center Duarte, CA
- 2023-present, Stakeholder, RLL, LLC, DE
- 2021-2024, Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
- 2021-present, Member, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA
- 2017-present, Stakeholder, WinSanTor Pharmaceuticals Inc., San Diego, CA
- 2016-2020, Co-founder, Propellex Bio, Los Angeles, CA
- 2014-2021 Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Riverside, CA
- 2011-2014, Staff Scientist, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
- 2006-2011, Senior Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA
- 2005-present, International Adjunct Professor, School of Biotechnology, Amrita University, Kerala, India
Awards & Memberships
Awards
- 2025, The Gayle Brinkenoff Excellence in Cancer Research Award
- 2021, University of California, Riverside (UCR) Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement
- 2020, UCR Regents Faculty Development Award
- 2019, UCR Regents Fellowship
- 2018, UCR, Regents Travel Award
- 2015, Invitation to the United Nations, “Technology for Sustainable Development,” New York
- 2005-present, International Adjunct Professor, Amrita University, Coimbatore, India
- 1996-2000, Pfizer Central Research Ltd, U.K., Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering (CASE)-sponsored Ph.D. studentship
Publications
- Zhang K, Ayala A, Norambuena-Soto I, Agnihotri V, Shu T, Nenninger C, Wang Y, Echevarria B, Aboagye J, Huang K, Espitia-Corredor J, Wu X, Chen ZB, Deng Y, Perry JJP, Raz DJ, Yang H, Cheng P, Fu G, Wang ZV, Rhee JW. Osimertinib induces reversible cardiac dysfunction through the GATA4-MYLK3-MYL2 axis. Eur Heart J. 2025 Dec 3:ehaf813. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehaf813. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41330421.
- Padmakumar S, Gopichand B, Melge AR, Madhavan A, Babu P, Nair BG, Perry JJP, Kumar GB. Targeting SUMOylation with Anacardic Acid Derivatives: Novel Insights into EGF Pathway Dysregulation in Cancer Using an In Silico Approach. ACS Omega. 2025 Nov 17;10(46):55511-55524. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.5c06377. PMID: 41322562; PMCID: PMC12658823.
- Wang Y, Hess JD, Wang C, Ma L, Luo M, Jossart J, Perry JJ, Kwon D, Wang Z, Pei X, Shen C, Wang Y, Zhou M, Yin H, Horne D, Nussenzweig A, Zheng L, Shen B. Discovery and Characterization of Small Molecule Inhibitors Targeting Exonuclease 1 for Homologous Recombination-Deficient Cancer Therapy. ACS Chem Biol. 2025 Jun 20;20(6):1258-1272. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.5c00117. Epub 2025 May 16. PMID: 40378357; PMCID: PMC12186255.
- Kang H, Valerio M, Feng J, Gu L, Hoang DH, Blackmon A, Sharkas S, Pathak K, Jossart J, Li Z, Zhang H, Zhang B, Pirrotte P, Perry JJP, Hickey RJ, Malkas L, Marcucci G, Nguyen LXT. AOH1996 targets mitochondrial dynamics and metabolism in leukemic stem cells via mitochondrial PCNA inhibition. Exp Hematol Oncol. 2024 Dec 28;13(1):123. doi: 10.1186/s40164-024-00586-4. Erratum in: Exp Hematol Oncol. 2025 Apr 10;14(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s40164-025-00650-7. PMID: 39732733; PMCID: PMC11681632.
- Atomwise AIMS Program. AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study. Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 2;14(1):7526. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54655-z. Erratum in: Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 16;14(1):21579. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70321-w. PMID: 38565852; PMCID: PMC10987645.
- Gu L, Li M, Li CM, Haratipour P, Lingeman R, Jossart J, Gutova M, Flores L, Hyde C, Kenjić N, Li H, Chung V, Li H, Lomenick B, Von Hoff DD, Synold TW, Aboody KS, Liu Y, Horne D, Hickey RJ, Perry JJP, Malkas LH. Small molecule targeting of transcription-replication conflict for selective chemotherapy. Cell Chem Biol. 2023 Oct 19;30(10):1235-1247.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.07.001. Epub 2023 Aug 1. PMID: 37531956; PMCID: PMC10592352.