Peter S Heeger, MD
img_Peter S Heeger
ADJUNCT PROFESSOR | Medicine, Nephrology
Research Topics
Immunology, T Cells, Transplantation
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Immunology [IMM]
Specific Clinical/Research Interest: Transplant immunology, complement, T cells

Postdoctoral Fellows: Paolo Cravedi, Pragya Yadav, Divya Verghese, Carolina Purroy

Junior Faculty: Jessica Reid-Adam

Student Researchers: Francis Sheen, Ed Kwon, Douglas Mathern

Lab Manager: Denise Peace

Reasearch Assistants: Tina Yao, Riddhika Pandya, Linda Zhang, Abhishek Parmar

Overview:
I lead a basic science lab in transplant immunology and complement/T cell interactions. I am also the Director of Transplant Research at Mount Sinai and oversee all clinical and translational transplant trials at the institution. Our group leads a multicenter international NIH trial on biomarkers as predictors of transplant outcome

Summary of Research Studies:
The research performed in my laboratory focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular immunologic events involved in rejection and tolerance of allogeneic organ grafts in mouse models and in humans. Using mouse models we assess a) how and where alloreactive T cell recognize antigens found in transplanted donor tissues and b) which induced effector mechanisms are essential for inducing graft pathology. Recently published work from our group has also delineated a new link between innate and adaptive immunity by demonstrating that alternative pathway complement components influence the strength of all T cell immune responses, including those directed at allogeneic tissues. Lessons derived from the animal studies are being ''translated'' into humans. I direct an NIH U01 multicenter trial to assess the utility of noninvasive markers to predict outcome in organ transplant recipients. The study is designed to provide a rational scientific foundation for therapeutic decision-making aimed at maximizing graft survival and minimizing toxicity in organ graft recipients.

Clinical Research Program in Transplantation Institute

MD, University of Pennsylvania

Publications

Selected Publications

Spatial transcriptomics of Glomerulo-centric antibody mediated rejection in renal transplants. Dajana Margeta, Hirotsugu Noguchi, Sepideh Khazaie, Leal C. Herlitz, Joshua J. Augustine, Peter S. Heeger, Anat R. Tambur, Robert L. Fairchild, William M. Baldwin. Clinical Immunology

Cardiac allograft tolerance can be achieved in nonhuman primates by donor bone marrow and kidney cotransplantation. Makoto Tonsho, M. O. Jane, Kaitlan Ahrens, Kortney Robinson, Wiebke Sommer, Svjetlan Boskovic, Parth M. Patel, David C. Becerra, Kyu Ha Huh, Cynthia L. Miller, Abbas Dehnadi, Isabel Hanekamp, Ivy A. Rosales, Robert B. Colvin, David H. Sachs, Alessandro Alessandrini, A. Benedict Cosimi, Robert L. Fairchild, Paolo Cravedi, Sofia Bin, Peter S. Heeger, James S. Allan, Tatsuo Kawai, Gilles Benichou, Joren C. Madsen. Science Translational Medicine

Correction to: LILRB3 genetic variation is associated with kidney transplant failure in African American recipients (Nature Medicine, (2025), 10.1038/s41591-025-03568-z). Zeguo Sun, Zhengzi Yi, Chengguo Wei, Wenlin Wang, Tianyuan Ren, Paolo Cravedi, Fasika Tedla, Stephen C. Ward, Evren Azeloglu, Daniel R. Schrider, Yun Li, Atlas Khan, Francesca Zanoni, Jia Fu, Sumaria Ali, Shun Liu, Deguang Liang, Tong Liu, Hong Li, Caixia Xi, Thi Ha Vy, Gohar Mosoyan, Quan Sun, Ashwani Kumar, Zhongyang Zhang, Samira Farouk, Kirk Campell, Jordi Ochando, Kyung Lee, Steve Coca, Jenny Xiang, Patricia Connolly, Lorenzo Gallon, Philip J. O’Connell, Robert Colvin, Madhav C. Menon, Girish Nadkarni, John C. He, Monica Kraft, Xuejun Jiang, Xuewu Zhang, Krzysztof Kiryluk, Aravind Cherukuri, Fadi G. Lakkis, Weiguo Zhang, Shu Hsia Chen, Peter S. Heeger, Weijia Zhang. Nature Medicine

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