Richard D. Klausner is an American scientist who served as the 11th director of the National Cancer Institute of the United States.

Richard Klausner
11th Director of the National Cancer Institute
In office
August 1, 1995 – September 30, 2001
PresidentBill Clinton
George W. Bush
Preceded bySamuel Broder
Succeeded byAndrew C. von Eschenbach
Personal details
Children4
Alma mater
Scientific career
Institutions

Early life and education

edit

Klausner was born in 1950 or 1951.[1] His father was a chemist, and Klausner would visit his father's laboratory as a child. He began studying physics at Yale University, but changed his focus to biology, with the plan of becoming a doctor in a rural area.[1] Klausner received his MD from Duke Medical School in 1976.[2]

Career

edit

In 1979, Klausner joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a postdoctoral fellow. At age 30, Klausner was appointed to the chief of the cell biology and metabolism branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.[1]

In 1992, he directed the review of the NIH's intramural research programs, in which he recommended sweeping changes.[1] He served as the director of the National Cancer Institute from 1995 to 2001, where he managed a staff of 5,000 employees and a budget of $4.5 billion.[3] In total, he spent more than 20 years at the NIH.[4]

He left the NCI to become the founding director of the Case Institute of Health, Science and Technology of the Case Foundation.[4][5]

He was the managing partner of the biotech venture capital firm, the Column Group.[6] From 2002 to 2005, he was the executive director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[3][7]

He was a member of the Searle Scholars advisory board.[8] He was a scientific advisor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.[9] He has been an Advisor to the Presidents of the Academies for counter-terrorism and a liaison to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy,[6] and was the chief strategy advisor for USAID.[10]

Klausner co-founded Juno Therapeutics in 2013, GRAIL in 2015.[11][12] and MindStrong Health in 2014. He was the chief medical officer of Illumina from 2013 to 2016.[13]

In 2022, Klausner co-founded Altos Labs and is currently Chief Scientist and Board Co-Chairman of the company.[14]

He was president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation from 1995 to 1996.[12]

Research

edit

His research focused on T cells and the potential for CAR-T therapies.[15] He also has published research on the genetics of Von Hippel–Lindau disease, a condition which predisposes a person to developing cancer.[9] He is an author of more than 300 scientific articles.[6]

Personal life

edit

Klausner has two sons and twin daughters.[1]

Awards

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e Kolata, Gina (12 December 1995). "SCIENTIST AT WORK: Richard Klausner;New Administrator Is 'Not an Administrator'". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  2. ^ Ltd, BMJ Publishing Group (1 November 2001). "Richard Klausner Steps Down as NCI Director". Journal of Investigative Medicine. 49 (6): 469. doi:10.2310/6650.2001.33610. ISSN 1081-5589. S2CID 219542301. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Dr. Richard D. Klausner Named Executive Director of Global Health for Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  4. ^ a b "NCI Director Richard Klausner Will Leave NIH - National Cancer Institute". 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  5. ^ "NIH Record-10/02/2001--Klausner Leaves NIH to Head New Institute". nihrecord.nih.gov. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Richard Klausner – Juno Therapeutics". www.junotherapeutics.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  7. ^ Paulson, Tom; Reporter, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (13 September 2005). "Gates Foundation's global health chief leaving". seattlepi.com. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  8. ^ "Searle Scholars Program : Richard D. Klausner (Advisory Board)". www.searlescholars.net. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Richard Klausner, ex-NCI head, joins center as senior adviser". Fred Hutch. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Richard Klausner, MD, Senior VP and CMO, Illumina". Rosenman Institute. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Dr Richard Klausner – IARC". www.iarc.fr. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Richard D. Klausner, MD". www.aacr.org. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  13. ^ "Illumina Taps Phil Febbo to Oversee Precision Medicine Strategy as CMO". Clinical OMICs - Molecular Diagnostics in Personalized Medicine. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Rick Klausner, Founder, Chief Scientist and Board Co-Chairman". altoslabs.com. Retrieved 15 Jan 2024.
  15. ^ "Richard Klausner, M.D. – LifeMine". lifeminetx.com. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  16. ^ a b "The American Society for Clinical Investigation". Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  17. ^ "Richard Klausner". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
edit