Scientific Advisory Committee Bios

Jeffrey Browning, PhD

former Distinguished Investigator, BiogenIDEC

Dr. Browning is well known in the field of cytokines and has many years' experience in the biotech industry. He obtained a PhD from the biochemistry department at the University of Wisconsin studying ion channels with Dr. David Nelson. This was followed by postdoctoral research on lipid membrane structure with Dr. Joachim Seelig at the Biozentrum in Basel, Switzerland and on neuromuscular junctions with Dr. Louis Reichardt at UCSF. Since 1984, he has been a creative scientist in new drug discovery for BiogenIdec, which is one of the largest biotechnology companies in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Browning prefers laboratory work to management and administration. In 1989, he and Dr. Carl Ware discovered Lymphotoxin-beta and he was a leader devoted to uncovering the biological functions of various TNF family members. He is often invited to speak at international conferences and seminars.

Dr. Yuling Li is currently a Fellow (Scientific Director) in Process Biochemistry- BioPharmaceutical Development at MedImmune (Gaithersburg, MD) where she is responsible for providing input on scientific/technical directions and strategies for the company process development activities. Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Li was the Senior Director of Purification Sciences-BioPharmaceutical Development at Human Genome Sciences Inc. (HGS, Rockville, MD). Since joining HGS in 1994, she had held positions of increasing responsibility and oversaw the company’s recombinant protein and antibody purification process development activities. She has contributed to bringing more than a dozen of biopharmaceuticals, including monoclonal antibodies, recombinant protein therapeutics, and one small molecule drug to various stages of clinical development, including a key role in the development and preparation for commercialization of BENLYSTA™ (belimumab) for lupus and ABthrax for inhalation anthrax. Before joining HGS, Dr. Li was at Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. in Nutley, New Jersey, where she conducted process research and development on PEGylated Interferon-alpha. Dr. Li received her Ph.D. from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at UMDNJ. During the course of her career, she published 30+ peer-review articles and is the primary inventor for seven issued patents. She has spoken at many international biopharmaceutical conferences. She was a member of industry experts in taskforce groups working with the FDA, EMEA and USP to address issues and guidelines associated with biopharmaceutical development. Dr. Li is the former President (2007-2008) of the Chinese Biopharmaceutical Association-USA (CBA, www.CBA-USA.org), a non-profit professional organization. Dr. Li also co-founded the Alliance of Chinese-American Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Associations (ALL-CABPA) in 2008.

Linda Burkly, PhD

Distinguished Investigator, BiogenIDEC

Burkly's tenure at Biogen has been characterized by her project initiation, leadership, scientific excellence and creative invention. She has made significant contributions through her investigation of potential drug targets and role in product advancement. Her important contributions are in the fields of AIDS, transplantation, autoimmune diseases (diabetes, lupus, hemophilia), immunology, integrins, cytokines, TNF family, angiogenesis and hedgehog biology. One of her project was outlicensed to Tanox where it is currently in preclinical/clinical development. Her responsibilities shifted in 1997 to Lead Scientist on Anti-CD40L mAb (hu5C8) Development. She helped support Phase 1 and Phase 2 testing of a hu5C8 and managed preclinical studies of hu5C8 in renal and islet allotransplantation, diabetes, hemophilia, and atherosclerosis. She also has specific scientific interests in several areas including the TNF family and VLA-4/integrins which play a key role for many diseases including inflammatory, autoimmune disorders and multiple myeloma. Recently, Dr. Burkly has been championing the TWEAK Project at Biogen collaborating with Dr. Jeff Browning. She holds a BS in biology from Fairfield University and a PhD in immunology from Tufts University. She did a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Richard Flavell in Yale University from 1985-1988. She has published 78 papers (including Nature, Science & Cell) and filed 12 patents (4 issued). She has received many honors and awards and she was frequently invited to give seminars at many international conferences.

Dr. Leung is a noted molecular biologist with 20 years' experience in the biotech industry. He has authored 56 publications and holds 16 issued patents. Dr. Leung was the Chief Scientist of Molecular Biology at Cell Therapeutics where he is responsible for cloning all proteins for Cell Therapeutics Inc. He was one of the key directors responsible for technical developments since the very early stage of this biotech startup. Prior to joining Cell Therapeutics Inc, Dr. Leung spent 12 years at Genentech where he worked on the cloning and expression of many cytokines, including human IFNs (working with Dr. David Goeddel) which are now marketed drugs. He holds a BA in chemistry from Whittier College and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Illinois.

Diane Pennica, PhD

Former Senior Research Scientist, Genentech

Dr. Pennica is well known for cloning cytokines and has over 20 years of biotech industry experience. Dr. Pennica, together with Dr. Bill Kohr, Dr. David Goeddel and Dr. Gordon Vehar, made a very important heart attack drug (tissue plasminogen activator t-PA, Activase) for Genentech. She received her PhD from the University of Rhode Island and did her postdoctoral work at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in Nutley, NJ. She has been working at Genentech since 1980 cloning many proteins, including t-PA, TNF, p53, WISP-1 and cardiotrophin. Dr. Pennica has published 95 papers and filed 36 (20 issued) US patents. She was awarded (with Drs. Goeddel, Kohr and Vehar) the Inventor of the Year Award from the Intellectual Property Owners Foundation (1989) for the recombinant t-PA patent. She was also nominated for the Lemelson-MIT Prize for Inventors in 1996.

Dr. Napoleone Ferrara, PhD

Staff Scientist, Genentech

Dr. Ferrara is a Genentech Fellow in the Dept. of Molecular Oncology at Genentech, where he has worked as a scientist since 1988. Dr. Ferrara holds an MD from the University of Catania Medical School in Italy and performed research under a fellowship in the Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Ferrara and his colleagues at Genentech were the first to isolate and clone vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) (Science 1989 246:1306-9). His laboratory has investigated many aspects of VEGF biochemistry/molecular biology, including the identification and characterization of its receptors (Flt-1 and Flk-1/KDR), regulation of VEGF activity by alternative RNA splicing and by extracellular proteolytic mechanisms, structure/function studies on the factor and its receptors, and elucidation of its role in angiogenesis in bone and the reproductive system.

In 1993, Dr. Ferrara reported that inhibition of VEGF-induced angiogenesis by specific monoclonal antibodies resulted in dramatic suppression of the growth of a variety of tumors in vivo. These findings provided the first direct evidence that inhibition of angiogenesis may suppress tumor growth and blocking VEGF action could have therapeutic value for a variety of malignancies. A humanized anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody (Avastin) is now in phase III clinical trials as a treatment for several solid tumors, including colorectal, non-small cell lung and breast cancer. Recently, patients with colorectal cancer treated with Avastin in such a trial showed a highly significant increase in time to progression and survival. This is the first phase III study to demonstrate clinical benefit with an anti-angiogenic agent.

Currently, Dr. Ferrara's laboratory is characterizing organ-specific endothelial cell mitogens. Endocrine gland-derived VEGF (EG-VEGF), recently discovered in his laboratory, is the first example of this novel class of regulator. Dr. Ferrara has published 130 original papers and 36 review articles, is a reviewer or editorial board member for 37 journals and holds 14 US patents.

Dr. Pat Gray, PhD

former Genentech

Gray is well known for his cloning of interferon-gamma (ActiMune) which was approved by FDA to treat chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) in children in 1990 (InterMune acquires this drug from Genentech). In addition to IFN-gamma, significant accomplishments include the first cloning of hepatitis B surface antigen, multiple interferon-alpha genes, Lymphotoxin (TNF-beta), bactericidal permeability increasing protein, LPS binding protein, platelet activating factor Acetylhydrolase, and macrophage derived chemokine. Five of these proteins are approved human pharmaceuticals or are in clinical trials. Twelve of his 118 publications are in Nature, Science and Cell covering these important therapeutic proteins. He has published over 50 patents with over 30 US patents issued on 20 different technologies. He was a senior scientist working with Dr. David Goeddel cloning IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma at Genentech from 1980 to 1989. Dr. Gray worked with Dr. Marc Feldmann at the Charing Cross Sunley Research Center, London, UK from 1989 to 1990. He worked at ICOS Corporation in Seattle from 1990 to 2001 as the Director of Leukocyte Biochemistry and then promoted to various VP positions. He retired from ICOS to join MacroGenics as the VP of Research. He serves also as a consultant for Arch Venture Partners and Ceptyr, Inc. He obtained his BS from the University of Oregon and a PhD from the University of Colorado. He is frequently invited to give international seminars and is a member of ten professional societies. He has served on the editorial boards of several journals, currently that of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Dr. Kuldeep Neote, PhD

Former Pfizer and Genentech

Neote PhD was a Principal Research Scientist with Pfizer (equivalent to tenure Staff Scientist position). He did his PhD at the University of Toronto and was involved in identifying the most prevalent genetic lesion responsible for Tay-Sachs disease in the Ashkenazi Jewish population (Nature, 1988). His postdoctoral work at Genentech from 1991 to 1994 focused on chemokine biology and he cloned the first CC chemokine receptor (Cell, 1993), work that subsequently had an impact on cloning additional chemokine receptors including CCR5, one of the major HIV co-receptors. He has been working at Pfizer for the last eight years responsible for initiating the chemokine drug discovery program that has led to the advancement of one clinical candidate to Phase II trial. In addition, he has been responsible for applying cutting edge technology to the Drug Discovery process, including breakthroughs in genomics and high throughput screening. He has published 38 papers and filed 5 patents. Dr. Neote has known Dr. Wong since 1990 at Genentech.

Dr. James Strickler, PhD

Former Serono

Strickler has over 20 years' experience in the biotech industry in four companies in different therapeutic areas (Cetus, SmithKline Beecham, Serono and Suntory Pharmaceutical). He received his PhD from Yale University and did his postdoctoral work at the Yale University School of Medicine. After briefly working as an associate scientist at the Cetus Corporation in Emeryville, California, Dr. Strickler joined SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (Smith, Kline and French Laboratories) in 1984 as an associate senior investigator and became Assistant Director in 1989. Dr. Strickler joined Ares Advanced Technology, Inc (now called Serono SRBI) in 1994 as Director of Protein Chemistry. Dr. Strickler left Serono in 2000 to become the Director of Biochemistry at Suntory Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Strickler has authored more than 40 scientific publications and is the co-inventor on five US patents. He is an expert in protein chemistry. Dr. Strickler hired Dr.Wong to work at Serono as the head of functional genomics in 1999 and was Dr. Wong's great supporter.

Dr. Steve Arkinstall, PhD

Head of Discovery, EMDSerono

Dr. Arkinstall is an accomplished molecular biologist with 13 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the Head of the Serono Reproductive Biology Institute where he supervises 75 scientists and oversees a $24M budget. Dr. Arkinstall has a major role at Serono in the identification and development of new drug targets. His work at Serono has included new product development and studies on the molecular and genetic basis of altered reproductive function and identification of novel mechanisms responsible for specific regulation of MAP kinases. Prior to joining Serono Dr. Arkinstall played various scientific and leadership roles at the Glaxo-Wellcome Biomedical Research Institute. His assignments at Glaxo-Wellcome included the generation of novel screening systems, new target identification, discovery of novel immunoregulators, discovery of novel blockers of neuronal apoptosis for neurodegenerative diseases and discovery of small molecule regulators of the neurotrophin/Trk receptor system for neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. Dr. Arkinstall holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and a BSc in Biochemistry and Physiology from the University of Sheffield. He has authored over 40 publications. Dr. Arkinstall appreciated Dr. Wong's creativity in drug discovery technologies and out-of-the-box thinking. According to Dr. Arkinstall, "Grace understands companies needs and has many ideas linking utility of targets to disease indications. Her strength in biomedicine is that she sees no boundaries to her experimental approach as documented by the several innovative experiments and novel discoveries she has generated at Serono".

Dr. Timothy Wells, PhD

Former Serono

Dr. Wells has a successful scientific career in biotechnology and is well known in the field of cytokine biology. He had worldwide responsibility for the discovery organization, with sites in Geneva, Boston and Ivrea, Italy. Serono's research focuses on providing new candidate molecules for clinical development in Serono's key therapeutic areas: infertility, neurology, autoimmunity/inflammation and wasting. Serono built a wide network of collaborations allowing access to all of the emerging new technologies of drug discovery. His personal research background has been focused on cytokine biology. Prior to joining Serono in 1998, Dr. Wells worked for Glaxo Wellcome for several years, rising to Head of Biochemistry and Immunology. Between 1987 and 1990 he worked at SmithKline Beecham in the UK on the molecular enzymology of arteriosclerosis. He obtained a PhD in the chemistry of enzyme action and protein engineering from Imperial College, London under the supervision of Prof. Alan Fersht. Dr. Wells was a great supporter of Dr. Wong at Serono and he was also the first investor in her new start-up.

Dr. Or is well known as an expert chemist and has over 20 years' experience in small molecule drug discovery in both biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He holds a PhD from the Department of Organic Chemistry of the University of Chicago. He did his postdoctoral work at Ohio State and Indiana Universities with Professor P. Magnus. In 1983 he joined Schering-Plough as senior scientist and in 1985 moved to Abbot Laboratories where he worked for 14 years in increasingly important positions. He left Abbot in 1999 to join Enanta Pharmaceuticals as Vice President in drug discovery. He has filed over 30 patents and has authored 25 scientific publications. Dr. Or invented three drugs in different therapeutic areas which have entered clinical trials. He established a record at Abbot for the time from inception of a drug discovery project to clinical development less than two years. He received two Chairman's Awards at Abbott for outstanding achievement in drug discovery.

Professor Iain Campbell, PhD

Former Professor and chair of Molecular Biology, The University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute

Professor Campbell is a leader in the field of cytokines in central nervous system diseases. He obtained his graduate (1979) and doctoral (1982) degrees in Science from the University of Sydney, Australia. Since 1990, he has been an NIH-funded researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, USA in the Department of Neuropharmacology and from 2004 in the School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences at the University of Sydney, Australia. For the past 20 years, Prof. Campbell's research interests have focused on the role of cytokines (and chemokines) in the pathogenesis of disease, particularly in the central nervous system. These studies have pioneered the use of transgenic modeling in mice to understand the mechanisms of action of cytokines in the living brain. In addition to being a current serving Chair of the NBDG study section for the NIH, Prof.Campbell is an editorial board member for numerous scientific journals and has been a regular invited speaker at many national and international scientific meetings including two Nobel Symposia. He has published over 190 papers in top journals with a significant impact in science discovery. He collaborated with Dr. Wong on cytokine research since 1983 when they were both working at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia.

Dr. Vaux is a leader in Apoptosis that is responsible for maintaining the right number of cells by balancing cell production and cell division. He has made a number of fundamental contributions to the understanding of this process, including recognition of the first component of the cell death mechanism, Bcl-2; unification of the mechanisms of apoptosis in mammalian cells and programmed cell death in the worm C. elegans; discovery of the cellular inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins, and isolation of the first mammalian IAP antagonists Diablo and HtrA2. He has published many papers in top journals such as Nature with a significant impact in the field of apoptosis. He has been invited to give many seminars in apoptosis conferences (both national and international scientific meetings) including the Nobel Symposia on apoptosis in 2002. Dr. Vaux has collaborated with Dr. Wong on apoptosis since 1996.

Dr. Shi-Chung Ng graduated with high honors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received a full scholarship to attend Purdue University and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1984. He joined Professor Mark Fishman’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) as a Hughes Fellow and became an Instructor of Medicine in HMS in 1987. He started as an independent investigator at the Cardiac Unit at MGH in 1988 and moved his lab to Princeton University in 1989 as a visiting faculty member. He worked at Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer and he was appointed as adjunct professor at Rutgers University. In 1993 he moved to Chicago and became a senior group leader in Drug Discovery at the Abbott Laboratories. He was inducted into the Abbott Volwiler Society in 1997 and he also holds adjunct appointment in the Chicago Medical School. Shi-Chung’s current research interest is in cancer drug discovery and he has worked on development of farnesyl transferase inhibitors, novel antimitotic agents, and novel antiapoptotic compounds based on Bcl-2 and IAPs. He has published over 160 papers/abstracts and patent applications. He resides in Libertyville, IL.

Dr. Robert Allen Lewis, PhD

Former Sr VP and Site Head for the Aventis Pharmaceuticals, USA

Dr. Robert A. Lewis was educated at Yale (BA, chemistry, 1967), University of Rochester (MD, 1971), and Harvard (Internship, Residency in Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital Med Center; Fellowship in Immunology, Harvard Med. School). After 2 years as a staff rheumatologist and allergist in the US Air Force, Dr. Lewis joined the faculty of Harvard Med. School, where he remained for over a decade, conducting research on mast cells, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, in collaboration with his department chairman, Dr. K. Frank Austen; a colleague from pulmonary medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Drazen; the Sheldon Emory Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, Dr. E J Corey; and a number of talented post-doctoral fellows and students. In 1986, Dr. Lewis left Harvard to join Syntex Corporation as director of basic research, from which he advanced to become President of Discovery Research; there, he and his colleagues developed several drugs, including myocophenolate mofetil for prevention of acute transplant rejection and gancyclovir and valgancyclovir for therapy of cytomegaloviral infections. In 1995, approximately a year after Roche Holdings acquired Syntex, Dr. Lewis moved to Cell Therapeutics in Seattle, as Chief Scientific Officer, where, with his colleagues, he developed polyglutamic acid polymer conjugates with taxanes and other hydrophobic cancer drugs and cloned many of the critical human enzymes involved in the turnover of phospholipids, with focus on their effects in oncogenesis. There, with colleagues, he also began exploring gene expression during T cell subtype differentiation. In 2000, Dr. Lewis moved to Aventis Pharmaceuticals at the Bridgewater, NJ campus, to create and direct a center for expertise in immunology research, termed the Immunology Platform, which has become the center for expression profiling of human immunocytes at Aventis. For the past 6 months, Dr. Lewis has also been acting Sr VP and Site Head for the Aventis US Research Site. Dr. Lewis is the author or coauthor of 160 scientific papers and book chapters on cell biology and biochemistry in immediate hypersensitivity and related disorders. He has served on the faculties of Harvard, Stanford, and UCSF medical schools and has been an invited speaker at numerous national and international meetings over the past 25 years, including the invited professorial lectureship at the Japanese Society of Allergology in 1983.

Dr. Sasha Kamb was a co-founder of Arcaris (antecedent of Deltagen Proteomics) in 1996. He served as CSO of the company, CEO (2000-01), and became Vice President of Research after its acquisition by Deltagen. From 1992 to 1996 Sasha was at Myriad Genetics, Inc., where he served as Director of Research from 1994 through 1996 and directed groups that identified genes responsible for familial melanoma and breast cancer. Sasha received his B.A. from Harvard University in 1982 and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1988. His postdoctoral work in protein crystallography was carried out at the University of California, San Francisco, with Nobel laureate Harold Varmus (cancer molecular genetics) and Robert Stroud (protein structure and drug design). During the past two years, Sasha has directed research efforts at Deltagen Proteomics focused on discovery of novel cancer targets. Sasha has published widely in leading scientific journals, both in his earlier work on the Drosophila Shaker gene, and in his later oncology-related studies.

Dr. David Merberg, PhD

Former AstraZeneca

Dr. David Merberg PhD has been applying bioinformatics methods within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries for more than 20 years. He founded and led the Research Computing group at Genetics Institute, now a unit of the pharmaceutical company, Wyeth. There, his group assembled the bioinformatics infrastructure for the DiscoverEase program, which generated a library of over 800 novel genes that encode secreted proteins. Dr. Merberg later joined AstraZeneca, where he was a founding member of the company's global bioinformatics resource. In this capacity, he led the development of enterprise systems for managing and analyzing molecular sequence and microarray data and implemented them at AstraZeneca sites around the world.

Dr. Merberg then became Director of Bioinformatics at Phylos, Inc, where he led the development of systems to manage and analyze data from the company's mRNA display pipeline. In 2003, he joined Cell Signaling Technology, where he is responsible for all aspects of information and informatics within the scientific and business domains. Dr. Merberg holds a BS in mathematics from Stony Brook University and a PhD in molecular biology from The University of Michigan.

Dr. Zhijian Lu, PhD

Former Pfizer and now the Head of Biologics, Novartis (China)

Dr. Zhijian Lu got his Bachelor’s degree in 1982 from Jilin University, China. He went to Boston University in 1985 to work in Dr. Richard Laursen’s lab on topics in protein chemistry to determine the immunogenic sites in proteolipid protein, and got his PhD degree in 1991. Then he carried out his post-doctoral studies in Dr. Gobind Khorana’s lab in MIT on structure-function relationship of rhodopsin.

In 1993 Dr. Lu joined Genetics Institute, where his researches were in the areas of peptide display, cytokine structure/function studies, and signal transduction/functional proteomics. After Genetics Institute was integrated into Wyeth in the late 90's Dr. Lu's focus shifted to the discovery of biotherapeutics including recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies. He led a number of technology platforms for biotherapeutic discovery, and managed protein drug projects from inception, to hit generation and to candidate identification. His tenure in Pfizer also included focused exploration of potential collaborations in Asia Pacific area for novel methods used in biotherapeutic discovery.

Currently Dr Lu leads the Novartis biologics discovery group in Shanghai. Dr Lu has authored and co-authored many scientific publications and patents. Some of his advice can be found in NatureBiotechnology (2009) Biotech scientists bank on big pharma's biologics push. 27, 293-295.

Shuguang Zhang, PhD

Associate Director, MIT

Dr. Zhang discovered the area of Self-Assembling Peptides in the research lab of Alex Rich at MIT. He has spearheaded the science of self-assembling peptides while heading MIT's Lab of Molecular Self Assembly, as Associate Director of MIT's Center for Biomedical Engineering, and while hosting the biennial Conference on the Self-Assembly of Peptides and Proteins in Biology, Medicine, and Engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Dr. Thomas D Gilmore, PhD

Professor of Biology, Boston University

Dr. Thomas D Gilmore received his PhD in 1984 under the mentorship of Dr. G Steven Martin from the Zoology Department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked on the characterization of substrates of oncogenic tyrosine kinases. From 1984-87, he was a Post-doctoral Fellow with Dr. Howard M Temin at the McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

He joined the Biology Department at Boston University in 1987, and is currently a Professor there. Dr. Gilmore and his laboratory have been primarily interested in the role of Rel/NF-kB transcription factors in lymphoma. In addition to his research at Boston University, he has written many reviews in his research area and has taught several graduate and undergraduate courses. More information on Dr. Gilmore and his research can be obtained at www.nf-kb.org.

Wolfgang Ketterle, PhD

John D. MacArthur professor, MIT

Dr. Ketterle received a master’s degree from the Technical University of Munich (1982), and a PhD in physics from the University of Munich (1986). After postdoctoral work at the Max-Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching, at the University of Heidelberg and at MIT, in 1993 he joined the physics faculty at MIT, where he is now the John D. MacArthur Professor.

He does experimental research in atomic physics and laser spectroscopy and focuses currently on Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute atomic gases. He was among the first scientists to observe this phenomenon in 1995, and realized the first atom laser in 1997. His earlier research was in molecular spectroscopy and combustion diagnostics.

Dr. Ketterle is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Physics (IOP), a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Academy of Sciences in Heidelberg, the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, and a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He has won many prestigious professional and civic awards for his research, culminating in 2001 in the Nobel Prize in Physics together with E.A. Cornell and C.E. Wieman.

David Baltimore, PhD

President, Caltech, The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975

Dr. David Baltimore, one of the most distinguished biologists and winner of the 1975 Nobel Prize for his work in virology, became the seventh president of the California Institute of Technology on October 15, 1997. Before coming to Caltech, Dr. Baltimore was an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was founding director of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT, and served from the institute's creation in 1982 to 1990, when he became president of Rockefeller University. His career has been distinguished by his dual contribution to biological research and to national science policy.

Dr. Baltimore helped pioneer the molecular study of animal viruses, and his research in this field had profound implications for understanding cancer and, later, AIDS. In the mid-1970's, along with several other eminent biologists, he played a pivotal role in creating a consensus on national science policy regarding recombinant DNA research and also established standards that are followed by the genetics community to this day.

Dr. Baltimore has been a major figure in Washington as head of the National Institutes of Health AIDS Vaccine Research Committee (1996-02), and also in 1986 as co-chair of the National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine's committee on a National Strategy for AIDS. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the Royal Society of London.

Dr. Baltimore was awarded the 1999 National Medal of Science in recognition of his research achievements, his excellence in building scientific institutions, and his ability to foster communication between scientists and the general public. He was a co-recipient of the 2000 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize and was awarded a 2002 AMA Scientific Achievement Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1974, and is also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a foreign member of both the Royal Society of London and the French Academy of Sciences. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles.

Michael S. Brown, PhD

Professor, Director, Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics, Southwestern Medical School

Dr. Michael S. Brown graduated in 1962 from the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania, with chemistry as his major subject. In 1966 Brown received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He did an intern and resident in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

The years 1968-1971 were spent at the National Institutes of Health where Brown served initially as Clinical Associate in gastroenterology and hereditary disease. He then joined the Laboratory of Biochemistry, headed by Earl R. Stadtman, a pioneer in the disclosure of the mechanisms by which enzymes are regulated. In 1971 Brown joined the division of Gastroenterology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

In 1974, Brown was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He became a Professor in 1976. In 1977 he was appointed Paul J. Thomas Professor of Medicine and Genetics, and Director of the Center for Genetic Disease at the same institution. In 1985, Brown was appointed Regental Professor of the University of Texas.

Dr. Brown was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences of the United States in 1980. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the American Society of Biological Chemists, and the American Society for Cell Biology.

Dr. Brown has received many awards (see Biography). Brown and Goldstein jointly delivered the following lectures: Harvey Lecture (1977); Christian A. Herter Lectures at Johns Hopkins University (1979); Harry Steenboch Lectures at the University of Wisconsin at Madison (1980); Smith, Kline, and French Lectures at the University of California, Berkeley (1981); Duff Memorial Lecture of the American Heart Association (1981); Doisy Lectures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1983); the first Pfizer Lecture in Honor of Konrad Bloch at Harvard University (1985); and the Berzelius Lecture at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm (1985).

Bruce Stillman, PhD

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Dr. Bruce Stillman is President and CEO of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). A native of Australia, he moved to Cold Spring Harbor as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 1979. Dr. Stillman has been Director of the CSHL Cancer Center since 1992, and in 1994 he succeeded Dr. James D. Watson as Director of CSHL. Stillman's research focuses on the mechanism and regulation of inheritance of both DNA and chromatin structures in eukaryotic cells, particularly in yeast and human cells. He is a Fellow of The Royal Society and a foreign member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

His lab investigate the mechanism and control of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells, primarily using human cells and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Through previous studies of Simian Virus 40 (SV40) DNA replication, we have identified the cellular proteins that function to replicate the viral DNA and assemble the replicating DNA into chromatin. These proteins are also required for replication of the cell's chromosomes during S phase of the cell cycle. Moreover, CAF-1, a protein that facilitates chromatin assembly dependent upon DNA replication, participates with the DNA replication protein PCNA to propagate epigenetically determined states of gene expression and the inheritance of chromatin structures.

In studies using S. cerevisiae, we have identified the chromosomal DNA replication origin sequences that are important for the initiation of chromosome duplication. These sequences are recognized by an initiator protein that is a large protein complex referred to as the origin recognition complex (ORC). ORC binds to the sequences that control DNA replication throughout the cell cycle and interacts with other proteins, such as Cdc6p, MCM helicase and others, in a cell cycle-dependent manner, to control initiation of chromosome replication. We study how this process works and how it integrates into cell cycle control. We have identified the human cell homologues of some of these initiation proteins and are using them to identify origins of DNA replication in mammalian chromosomes and to study the regulation of S-phase progression during the mammalian cell cycle.

Charles M. Vest, PhD

former President of MIT

Dr. Charles M. Vest, a native of West Virginia, became president of MIT in 1990. He has set three strategies for maintaining and enhancing the excellence of MIT: identifying the most critical emerging directions in education and research, providing a strong financial base for MIT's programs, and improving the value and efficiency of services in support of these programs. President Vest is the Vice Chair of the Council on Competitiveness, and serves as a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Massachusetts Governor's Task Force on Economic Growth and Technology, and the National Research Council Board on Engineering Education. Prior to coming to MIT, he served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan, where he earned his M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering.

David de Kretser, MD

Foundation Director of the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development (MIRD) at Monash University, Melbourne

Professor David de Kretser AO is the Foundation Director of the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development (MIRD) at Monash University, Melbourne. In addition to being Director, he is the Associate Dean of the university’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (Biotechnology Department) and Executive Chair of the Monash Institutes of Health.

Professor de Kretser received his MBB in 1962 from the University of Melbourne and completed his MD in 1969 at Monash University, where he studied the structure and function of the human testis.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. In 2000, Professor de Kretser was admitted as an Officer in the Order of Australia.

For the past decade, Professor de Kretser has served on the Executive Council of the International Society of Andrology, including a term as President. He has also served on the Bioethics Committee of the Uniting Church of Australia, Victorian Synod.

His research into reproductive biology infertility and endocrinology has seen over 600 papers featured in national and international peer reviewed journals, and over 65 of these papers being presented at international meetings. He is also the Editor of a number of books and has served on a number of editorial boards of international journals.

Professor de Kretser has made important contributions to electronmicroscopy of the testis and to the field of male infertility and co-directed a program of research that resulted in the first isolation of inhibin which has led to numerous studies on its role in reproductive biology. Together with his graduate students and fellows, of whom he has supervised over 30 PhD and 25 international postdoctoral fellows, his laboratory has established the presence of paracrine regulatory mechanisms in the testis and is currently exploring the molecules involved. His research is continuously supported by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, World Health Organisation and the Ford Foundation. Recently, he was awarded a grant from the Federal Government to establish and direct Andrology Australia which will enhance public and professional education and research in the area of Men’s Health.

Professor de Kretser's work has also been recognised by the Senior Organon Award of the Australian Endocrine Society in 1977 and the Serono Lecturer of the American Society for Andrology.

Jordan S. Pober, PhD

Professor, Yale University

Training:
1971 - B.A. Biology, Chemistry, History, Haverford College, Haverford, PA
1977 - M.D. School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1977 - Ph.D. Molecular Biophysics/Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT
1977-1978 Resident, Pathology, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT
1978-1980 Postdoctoral Fellow, Biochemistry, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
1980-1981 Resident, Pathology, Brigham & Womens Hospital, Boston, MA

Expertise: Biology and immunology of vascular endothelium; biology of cytokines; biological bases of disease

Research Interests: My laboratory is interested in several related research problems addressing the immunobiology of vascular endothelium. First, we study how endothelial cells may promote the recruitment, activation and differentiation of T cells by presenting antigens. A major focus of this work is the identity of the molecules that endothelial cells use to provide costimulation. Second, we study how endothelial cells respond to cytokines such as TNF and acquire the capacity to recruit and activate inflammatory effector cells. A major focus of this work is the regulation of adhesion molecule expression. Third, we study how immune effector cells and molecules injure endothelial cells and how endothelial cells resist immune-mediated injury. Many of these processes are studied in the context of the host response to vascularized allografts or xenografts, and a major overall goal of this work is to develop strategies to improve clinical transplantation. Immunopathology Transplantation Pathology