| 1 | Name: | Dr. Leroy Hood | |
| Institution: | Phenome Health; Institute for Systems Biology | ||
| Year Elected: | 2000 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 201. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1938 | ||
Leroy E. Hood is the President and Director of the Institute for Systems Biology, a not-for-profit institution he recently established. He has helped start more than half a dozen companies, including Amgen, the largest biotech company, and Applied Biosystems, the leading maker of genetic analysis equipment. He received an M.D. at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1964 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry at California Institute of Technology in 1968. A member of the faculty of the California Institute of Technology for twenty-two years, he was also director of the Cancer Center, 1981-90, and director of the NSF Science and Technology Center for Molecular Biotechnolgy, 1989-92. From 1992-2000 he was the Director of the NSF Science and Technology Center for Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington, as well as William Gates III Professor and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology, professor in the Departments of Bioengineering and Immunology, and an adjunct professor in the Departments of Medicine and Computer Science. Leroy Hood played a central role in deciphering the mechanisms of immunological diversity by being among the first to clone and characterize genes encoding antibodies, genes of the major histocompatibility complex, and T-cell receptors. His laboratory also developed four instruments widely used to synthesize and sequence genes and proteins. Dr. Hood also played a pioneering role in the Human Genome Project and co-edited The Code of Codes, covering the scientific, legal, and ethical aspects of the Human Genome Project. Dr. Hood initiated major programs for bringing hands-on, inquiry-based science to all levels of teachers in Seattle. Dr. Hood is the recipient of many awards, including the Louis Pasteur Award, Dickson Prize, Lasker Award, Rabbi Shai Shacknai Memorial Prize of Hebrew University, the American College of Physicians Award, the NAE's Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ Prize, and the National Medal of Science (2012). In January 2017 he was awarded the National Academy of Sciences' Award for Chemistry in Service to Society. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts & Sciences and was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2000. | |||