Geoffrey I. Shapiro

Geoffrey I. Shapiro, MD, PhD is Director of the Early Drug Development Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he leads one of the world's most distinguished programs in DNA damage response (DDR) inhibitor and cell cycle-targeted drug development. Dr. Shapiro is recognized as the preeminent academic clinician-scientist in the clinical development of ATR, WEE1, CHK1, and CDK inhibitors, having led first-in-human phase I trials of many of the defining agents in the DDR inhibitor field. His laboratory pioneered the translational pharmacodynamic framework for DDR inhibitors — establishing γH2AX, RPA32 phosphorylation, and replication catastrophe biomarkers as in-tumor proof-of-mechanism endpoints routinely incorporated into DDR phase I trials globally. Dr. Shapiro led the first-in-human phase I of the ATR inhibitor berzosertib (M6620/VX-970), demonstrating replication stress pharmacodynamics and early clinical activity in combination with gemcitabine, and established the clinical rationale for ATR inhibition in tumors with defects in the ATM-p53 axis. He also led the first-in-human palbociclib (CDK4/6 inhibitor) phase I trial, establishing the recommended phase II dose and neutropenia as the principal dose-limiting toxicity — foundational data for the three palbociclib phase III breast cancer trials that transformed endocrine-sensitive breast cancer therapy. Dr. Shapiro has mentored numerous physician-scientists and serves on multiple NCI and AACR scientific advisory committees.