# Philip Kranzusch
Philip Kranzusch is a structural biologist and microbiologist who studies how cells detect and fight viruses. He is Principal Investigator in Cancer Immunology and Virology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School, and he is known for showing that human innate immunity, including the cGAS-STING pathway and its signal cGAMP, evolved from ancient antiviral systems in bacteria.[1](https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch) • [2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/)
| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Structural biology and microbiology; innate immunity, virology, and bacterial anti-phage defense[1](https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch) |
| Positions | Principal Investigator, Cancer Immunology and Virology, Dana-Farber; Professor of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School (started 2016 as Assistant Professor)[1](https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch) • [3](https://themarkfoundation.org/portfolio/philip-kranzusch-phd/) |
| Training | BA, University of Wisconsin, Madison; PhD, Harvard (advisor Sean P.J. Whelan, 2007–2012); postdoc with Jennifer A. Doudna and James M. Berger, UC Berkeley, 2012–2016[2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/) • [4](https://asm.org/biographies/philip-kranzusch-2020-award-for-early-career-basic) |
| Signature work | "Ancient Origin of cGAS-STING" (Molecular Cell, 2015); "STING cyclic dinucleotide sensing originated in bacteria" (Nature, 2020); RADAR cryo-EM structure (Cell, 2023)[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4575873/) • [2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/) • [6](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/publications.html) |
| Key discovery | According to ASM.org, cGAS-like nucleotidyltransferase enzymes (CD-NTases) in bacteria, over 5,000 in bacterial and animal genomes, underlie CBASS anti-phage defense, the bacterial ancestor of human cGAS-STING signaling |[4](https://asm.org/biographies/philip-kranzusch-2020-award-for-early-career-basic) • [7](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-111821-115636)
| Honors | 2025 Blavatnik National Award (Life Sciences Laureate); NIH Director's New Innovator Award 2021; Pew Scholar 2019; ASM Early Career Basic Research Award 2020[8](https://www.dana-farber.org/newsroom/news-releases/2025/dana-farbers-philip-j-kranzusch-phd-receives-2025-blavatnik-national-award-for-young-scientists) • [2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/) |
| Active funding | NIH Director's New Innovator grant DP2GM146250, September 24, 2021 to August 31, 2026[9](https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/25703) |
## Education and early career
Kranzusch trained in Sean Whelan's laboratory at Harvard Medical School from 2007 to 2012, receiving his PhD there, and then worked as a postdoctoral fellow with Jennifer Doudna and James Berger at the [University of California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california), Berkeley from 2012 to 2016.[4](https://asm.org/biographies/philip-kranzusch-2020-award-for-early-career-basic) His 2015 Molecular Cell paper, written during the Berkeley period with Berger and Doudna, established the ancient origin of cGAS-STING and the mechanism of universal 2′,3′ cGAMP signaling.[5](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4575873/)
## Career at Dana-Farber and Harvard
In 2016 Kranzusch moved to Boston as Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and his laboratory began research there on August 1, 2016.[3](https://themarkfoundation.org/portfolio/philip-kranzusch-phd/) • [10](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/news.html) ORCID records both his Professor ([Microbiology](https://www.edgepedia.org/microbiology)) and Professor (Cancer [Immunology](https://www.edgepedia.org/immunology) & Virology) appointments as running from 2016 to present.[11](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4943-733X)
The laboratory studies the cGAS-STING pathway: when a cell recognizes foreign DNA, the enzyme cGAS catalyzes formation of cyclic GMP-AMP (cGAMP), a cyclic dinucleotide second messenger that activates the receptor STING to switch on an immune gene expression program. STING is a target of growing interest in cancer immunotherapy.[1](https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch) The lab's work on bacterial cGAS-like enzymes showed that human cGAS belongs to a broad family of cGAS/DncV-like nucleotidyltransferase (CD-NTase) enzymes, more than 5,000 of which are encoded in bacterial and animal genomes.[4](https://asm.org/biographies/philip-kranzusch-2020-award-for-early-career-basic) Methods are structural and biochemical, with cryo-EM central to recent papers.[1](https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch) • [6](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/publications.html)
## Representative work
**The 2020 Cell paper on CBASS effectors** discovered Enterobacter cloacae CD-NTase-associated protein 4 (Cap4) as the founding member of a family of more than 2,000 bacterial receptors that respond to CD-NTase signals in CBASS immunity, a cyclic oligonucleotide-based anti-phage defense system. Cap4's SAVED domain, a fusion of two CARF subunits co-opted from type III CRISPR immunity, discriminates 2′–5′- and 3′–5′-linked cyclic oligonucleotide signals and enables recognition of at least 180 potential nucleotide second messenger species, and SAVED-containing effectors are essential for CBASS-mediated protection of bacteria from phage infection.[12](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7728545/)
**The 2023 Cell cryo-EM structure of the RADAR defense complex** solved the supramolecular architecture of RADAR, a bacterial anti-phage defense system, at the level of its full assembly. The paper, with co-first authors from the lab and co-corresponding authors at the lab and a collaborating laboratory, appeared in Cell 186(5), 987–998.[6](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/publications.html)
The same bacterial-origin theme runs through the 2019 Nature paper "Bacterial cGAS-like enzymes synthesize diverse nucleotide signals" and the 2020 Nature paper "STING cyclic dinucleotide sensing originated in bacteria," which showed that STING's cyclic dinucleotide sensing began in bacteria.[2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/)
## From bacterial defense to human immunity
The field-level insight from this work is that the animal cGAS-STING pathway has a direct ancestor in bacterial CBASS anti-phage defense. Bacterial cGAS homologs, the CD-NTases, control CBASS, which is present in an estimated ~14.4% of sequenced bacterial and archaeal species; CBASS Cap effectors degrade essential cellular components to induce abortive infection (infected cell self-destructs to stop virus spread) and limit viral spread.[7](https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-111821-115636) The evolutionary connection reframes human innate immunity as a descendant of bacterial antiviral systems and points to practical levers in medicine. The lab's Mark Foundation-funded work investigates how cGAMP is controlled within cells, including identifying factors involved in cGAMP degradation, research aimed at the rational design of next-generation anti-cancer immunotherapies.[3](https://themarkfoundation.org/portfolio/philip-kranzusch-phd/)
## Honors and funding
The New Innovator award, DP2GM146250, "Discovery of cGAS-like signaling enzymes in innate immunity and disease," runs from September 24, 2021 to August 31, 2026.[9](https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/25703) In 2025 he was named one of three Blavatnik National Awards laureates, selected from 310 nominees at 161 institutions across 42 states, each receiving an unrestricted $250,000 prize.[8](https://www.dana-farber.org/newsroom/news-releases/2025/dana-farbers-philip-j-kranzusch-phd-receives-2025-blavatnik-national-award-for-young-scientists)
## Recent developments
The laboratory's output since 2023 has shifted further toward bacterial defense systems and viral immune evasion. In 2024 a Cell paper reported that animal and bacterial viruses share conserved mechanisms of immune evasion.[2](https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/) The 2025 publications include a Science paper on deazaguanylation in type IV CBASS immunity (Science 389(6767), 1347–1352), a Nature paper on a DNA-gated molecular guard in Hailong antiphage defense (Nature 643(8072), 794–800), and a Cell paper on structure-guided discovery of viral proteins that inhibit host immunity (Cell 188(6), 1681–1692).[6](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/publications.html) In 2026 the lab published a Nature paper discovering new nucleotide immune signals in bacterial immunity on February 18 and a Nature Microbiology paper on nuclease-NTPase systems in bacterial immunity on April 27; the Blavatnik award was announced October 7, 2025.[10](https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/news.html) He is also Principal Investigator on NIH grant R13AI183717, "Symposium on the Immune System of Bacteria," running March 5, 2024 to February 28, 2025.[9](https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/25703)
## References
1. Philip Kranzusch, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. https://www.dana-farber.org/find-a-doctor/philip-kranzusch
2. Philip Kranzusch, 2025 National Award Winner, Blavatnik National Awards. https://blavatnikawards.org/honorees/profile/philip-kranzusch/
3. Mechanism of cGAS-STING Inactivation in Antitumor Immunity and Disease, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. https://themarkfoundation.org/portfolio/philip-kranzusch-phd/
4. Philip Kranzusch, Ph.D. | ASM.org. https://asm.org/biographies/philip-kranzusch-2020-award-for-early-career-basic
5. Ancient Origin of cGAS-STING Reveals Mechanism of Universal 2′,3′ cGAMP Signaling (Molecular Cell, 2015). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4575873/
6. Kranzusch Lab | Publications. https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/publications.html
7. CBASS to cGAS-STING: The Origins and Mechanisms of Nucleotide Second Messenger Immune Signaling (Annual Review of Virology, 2023). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-virology-111821-115636
8. Dana-Farber's Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., Receives 2025 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists. https://www.dana-farber.org/newsroom/news-releases/2025/dana-farbers-philip-j-kranzusch-phd-receives-2025-blavatnik-national-award-for-young-scientists
9. Harvard Catalyst Profiles, Philip J. Kranzusch. https://connects.catalyst.harvard.edu/Profiles/display/Person/25703
10. Kranzusch Lab | News. https://kranzuschlab.med.harvard.edu/news.html
11. Philip J. Kranzusch, Ph.D., ORCID record. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4943-733X
12. CBASS Immunity Uses CARF-Related Effectors to Sense Cyclic Oligonucleotide Signals (Cell, 2020). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7728545/
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in immunology, microbiology, and virology › Virology › Molecular and cellular virology researchers › DNA virus researchers*
*Initially written Sep 20, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license