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Leroy Hood, M.D., Ph.D. is recognized as one of the world’s leading scientists in molecular biotechnology and genomics, holding numerous patents and awards for his scientific breakthroughs. Dr. Hood earned an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1968. Since then, his research has focused on the study of molecular immunology and biotechnology. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers and co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology and genetics.
His professional career began at Caltech, where he and colleagues pioneered four instruments, the DNA and protein synthesizers and sequencers that constitute the technological foundation for contemporary molecular biology. One of the instruments has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA. Dr. Hood also was one of the first advocates and is a key player in the Human Genome Project the quest to decipher the sequence of human DNA.
In 2000, Dr. Hood founded the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington to pioneer systems approaches to biology and medicine. He is president and director of this organization and continues with his interest in biology, medicine, technology development, and computational biology.
Dr. Hood has played a role in founding several biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems, Systemix, Darwin, Rosetta, and MacroGenics. His numerous awards include the Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology (2002). | 