Stephen J. LippardProfessor

Lippard studies biological interactions involving metal ions, focusing on reactions and physical and structural properties of metal complexes. Such complexes can be useful as cancer drugs and as models for the active sites of metalloproteins. Metal ions also promote key biological reactions as signaling agents; metal complexes can be employed to sense biological signaling agents.

Lippard is an extramural faculty member of MIT’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and is well known for his work on the mechanism of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin, which contains platinum and is in first line therapy for many cancers. His lab is currently working on designing more effective platinum anti-tumor agents. Recently these studies have been extended to include additional third row transition elements including osmium and rhenium, complexes of which have the ability to destroy cancer stem cells thought to be responsible for tumor recurrence and metastasis.