Peter Bak

Peter Bak, PhD has more than twelve years of experience with a broad range of research approaches—cellular, molecular and biochemical—and fields—from immunology and infection through oncology.

At Back Bay Life Science Advisors, Dr. Bak leads a diverse portfolio of projects with a focus on liquidity planning and positioning, strategic franchise building, M&A and licensing strategy, and buy-side diligence. He regularly works with companies of all scales, from startup to global life science brands.

Dr. Bak’s research career in immuno-oncology began at Dartmouth Medical School (PhD, Microbiology and Immunology), where his research uncovered novel pathways of immunosuppression in ovarian cancer. His research continued at MIT, as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research.

At MIT, Dr. Bak focused on the development of immunotherapies for prostate cancer and led interdisciplinary projects with researchers from the departments of Biological and Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Bak has published peer-reviewed articles on cancer vaccinology, the molecular mechanisms of myeloid-cell-mediated immune-suppression, costimulatory requirements for intertumoral T-cell activation, and immune editing within the tumor environment. In addition, Dr. Bak has authored several articles on the life sciences for Back Bay Life Science Advisors, including white papers on the promise of neoantigen-based cancer immunotherapy, and the promise of the microbiome and immuno-oncology.