Dr. Pfeifer earned his MS in pharmacology in 1981 and his PhD in biochemistry in 1984 from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1988, he joined Beckman Research Institute at City of Hope where most recently he held the Lester M. and Irene C. Finkelstein Chair in Biology. In 2014, he joined the Van Andel Research Institute within the Center for Epigenetics. His laboratory studies the epigenetic (process of regulating genes) mechanisms of disease, focusing on DNA methylation and the role of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in cancer and other diseases. Specifically, the lab studies hypermethylation in cancer genes with the intent of understanding the mechanisms and significance of CpG island methylation and continues work on the tumor suppressor RASSF1A, which was discovered by his laboratory. Over the years, he has mentored and trained young scholars, including 10 graduate students and over 20 postdoctoral fellows and clinical oncologists in various aspects of cancer biology and epigenetics.