Peter Maxwell Howley (born October 9, 1946)[1] is an American pathologist,[2] virologist, and professor at Harvard Medical School.

He was a research associate from 1973 to 1975 at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in Bethesda, Maryland.

In 1991, Howley became the George Fabyan Professor of Comparative Pathology at Harvard Medical School.

The research identified papillomavirus oncogenes and the molecular mechanisms of their damaging effects.

[8] His research also involves assessing the roles of the E6AP/UBE3A ubiquitin ligase in human neurogenetic disorders.