Peter Kuhn, PhD

University Professor, Dean's Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Biological Sciences, Medicine, Biomedical Engineering, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and Urology

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Overview

Peter Kuhn joined the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences as Dean’s Professor of Biological Sciences in July 2014. Dr. Kuhn also has appointments as Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, a founding member of the Michelson Center for Convergent Biosciences at USC and is leading CSI-Cancer at USC. He is a scientist, educator and entrepreneur with a career long commitment in personalized medicine and individualized cancer patient care. He is focused on the redesign of cancer care. The first product from technology developed by Dr. Kuhn became available for prostate cancer care in June 2016. Dr. Kuhn’s strategy is to advance our understanding of the human body to improve the human condition for those affected by cancer. His research is shedding new light at how cancer spreads through the body and evolves over time. This new science will lead to a personalized care strategy that is biologically informed and clinically actionable. He is a physicist who trained initially at the Julius Maximilians Universität Würzburg, Germany, before receiving his Masters in Physics at the University of Albany, Albany, NY in 1993 and his Ph.D. in 1995. He then moved to Stanford University where he joined the faculties of Medicine and Accelerator Physics as tenure track Assistant Professor. From 2002 to 2014 he established the Physics Oncology program at The Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA as tenured Associate Professor before joining USC in 2014. He has published over 200 peer scientific articles and patents resulting from his research.

Publications

  • OpenIMC: an open-source platform for analyzing single-cell and spatial proteomics by imaging mass cytometry. Res Sq. 2026 May 12.. View in PubMed
  • Augmenting Performance Status: A Preliminary Study of Objective Kinematic Assessment Using Motion Capture. Oncol Ther. 2026 May 07.. View in PubMed
  • Copper isotope fractionation and copper-to-zinc ratios reveal altered metal homeostasis in prostate cancer. Sci Rep. 2026 Apr 20.. View in PubMed
  • Modeled Aqueous Humor Protein Concentrations to Enable Biomarker Development in Uveal Melanoma. Int J Mol Sci. 2026 Mar 30; 27(7).. View in PubMed
  • Cellular senescence in precancer lesions and early-stage cancers. Cancer Cell. 2026 Jan 12; 44(1):6-11.. View in PubMed
  • International expert consensus on the clinical integration of circulating tumor cells in solid tumors. Eur J Cancer. 2025 Dec 09; 231:116050.. View in PubMed
  • Circulating tumor cell and oncosome subtypes in portal and peripheral venous circulations may be used for diagnosis and prognostication of pancreatic cancer. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2025 Dec 05; 9(1):397.. View in PubMed
  • Characterizing circulating rare cells in peripheral blood for detecting and monitoring multiple myeloma and precursor states. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2025 Dec 02; 9(1):388.. View in PubMed
  • Caught in the Act: Tumor-Immune Interactions in Circulation of Patients with Immune Marker Positive Circulating Tumor Cells. Cancers (Basel). 2025 Nov 15; 17(22).. View in PubMed
  • Anti-tumour effects of perioperative ketamine in lung cancer: a non-randomised, exploratory biomarker study. Br J Anaesth. 2025 Nov; 135(5):1316-1319.. View in PubMed