William Kaelin
Kaelin in 2019
Born (1957-11-23) November 23, 1957
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationDuke University (BS, MD)
SpouseCarolyn Scerbo
AwardsAlbert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research (2016)
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsOncology
InstitutionsDana–Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard University
Howard Hughes Medical Institute[1]

William G. Kaelin Jr. (born November 23, 1957) is an American Nobel laureate physician-scientist. He is a professor of medicine at Harvard University and the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. His laboratory studies tumor suppressor proteins. In 2016, Kaelin received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research and the AACR Princess Takamatsu Award.[2][3] He also won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019 along with Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza.[4][5]

Early life and education

Kaelin was born in New York City on November 23, 1957.[6] Kaelin earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and chemistry at Duke University, and stayed to attain an MD, graduating in 1982. He did his residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and his fellowship in oncology at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). After deciding as an undergraduate that research was not a strength of his, at DFCI he did research in the lab of David Livingston, where he found success in the study of retinoblastoma.[1] In 1992, he set up his own lab at DFCI down the hall from Livingston's where he investigated hereditary forms of cancer such as von Hippel–Lindau disease. He became a professor at Harvard Medical School in 2002.[7]

Career

He became assistant director of Basic Science at the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in 2008. His research at Dana–Farber has focused on understanding the role of mutations in tumor suppressor genes in cancer development. His major work has been on the retinoblastoma, von Hippel–Lindau, and p53 tumor suppressor genes.

His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and others.[8]

He serves as vice-chair of Scientific Programs on the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Board of Directors and Chair of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award selection committee and is a member of the board of directors at Eli Lilly[7] and the Stand Up to Cancer scientific advisory committee.[9]

Research

Illustration of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability

Following his post-doctorate, Kaelin set up a laboratory at Dana-Farber in 1993 to continue his research on tumor suppression. He had become interested in Von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHL). VHL tumors, caused by gene mutation, were known to be angiogenic, creating blood vessels that secreted erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone known to be part of the body's mechanic to react to hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in the blood. Kaelin hypothesized that there may be a connection between the formation of VHL tumors and the deficiency of the body to detect oxygen.[10] Kaelin's research found that in VHL subjects, there are genes that express the formation of a protein critical in the EPO process, but which the mutation suppressed. Kaelin's work aligned with that of Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza who separately had identified a two-part protein, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) that was essential to EPO production and which was triggered by oxygen levels in the blood. Kaelin's work found that the VHL protein would help regulate the HIF, and in subjects where the VHL proteins were not present, the HIF would overproduce EPO and lead to cancer.[11] The combined work of Kaelin, Ratcliffe, and Semenza identified the pathway of how cells detect and react to oxygen levels in the blood, and have led to the development of drugs to help patients with anaemia and kidney failure.[11]

Personal life

He was married to breast cancer surgeon Carolyn Kaelin from 1988 until her death from glioblastoma in 2015. They have two children.[12]

Selected awards

References

  1. 1 2 "William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD". Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Dr. William G. Kaelin, Jr., to Receive 2016 Science of Oncology Award". asco.org. May 26, 2016. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "About William Kaelin". Harvard University. Archived from the original on April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ Kolata, Gina; Specia, Megan (October 7, 2019). "Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded for Research on How Cells Manage Oxygen - The prize was awarded to William G. Kaelin Jr., Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza for discoveries about how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  6. ↑ "William G. Kaelin Jr Facts". The Nobel Foundation.
  7. 1 2 "William G. Kaelin, Jr., M.D." Eli Lilly and Company. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Home page kaelin lab". Harvard University. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  9. ↑ "William G. Kaelin Jr., MD". aacr.org. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  10. ↑ Hurst, Jillian H. (September 13, 2016). "William Kaelin, Peter Ratcliffe, and Gregg Semenza receive the 2016 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 126 (10): 3628–3638. doi:10.1172/JCI90055. ISSN 0021-9738. PMC 5096796. PMID 27620538.
  11. 1 2 Ledford, Heidi; Callaway, Ewen (October 7, 2019). "Biologists who decoded how cells sense oxygen win medicine Nobel". Nature. 574 (7777): 161–162. Bibcode:2019Natur.574..161L. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02963-0. PMID 31595071.
  12. ↑ Grady, Denise (August 9, 2015). "Carolyn Kaelin, Breast Cancer Surgeon, Patient Advocate and Patient, Dies at 54". The New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ "AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award Recipients". American Association for Cancer Research. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  14. ↑ "2006 Distinguished Clinical Scientist Awards". Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. January 1, 2006. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Alumni Awards". Duke University School of Medicine. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Two NAM Members Receive Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award". National Academy of Medicine. September 15, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ "William G. Kaelin Jr". Gairdner Foundation. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  18. ↑ "William G. Kaelin Jr". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  19. ↑ Claiborn, Kathryn (April 2, 2012). "William G. Kaelin Jr. and Gregg L. Semenza receive the 2012 ASCI/Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 122 (4): 1136–1137. doi:10.1172/JCI63264. PMC 3314483. PMID 22570862.
  20. ↑ "William G. Kaelin". Institut de France. Grands Prix des Fondations. April 21, 2015. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Steven C. Beering Award". Indiana University School of Medicine. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  22. ↑ "The 13th Annual Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences Awarded for Advancements in Oxygen Sensing Systems" (PDF). Ludwig Cancer Research. February 14, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  23. ↑ "William G. Kaelin Jr., MD Class of 2014". American Association for Cancer Research. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  24. ↑ "BCRF Investigators Honored by the American Society for Clinical Oncology". Breast Cancer Research Foundation. June 16, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  25. ↑ "William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD, receives Princess Takamatsu award from AACR". Dana–Farber Cancer Institute. April 21, 2016. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
  26. ↑ "2016 Award Winners". Albert And Mary Lasker Foundation. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  27. ↑ "2018 Massry Prize Laureates". Keck School of Medicine of USC. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  • William G. Kaelin Jr on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture 7 December 2019 The von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein: Insights into Oxygen Sensing
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