Ron Evans

Ron Evans is the Director of the Gene Expression Laboratory and Metabolic Engineering Program and Co-Director of the Helmsley Center for Genomic Medicine at the Salk Institute. He is known for pioneering studies on hormones' normal activities and their roles in disease. A major discovery was nuclear hormone receptors, which respond to steroid hormones, vitamin A, vitamin D, thyroid hormones, and bile acids. These receptors help control sugar, salt, calcium, cholesterol, and fat metabolism. They are primary targets in breast, prostate, and pancreatic cancers, and leukemia treatment and have therapeutic roles in chronic inflammation, osteoporosis, and asthma. His muscle metabolism studies led to the discovery of exercise mimetics, which promote the benefits of fitness without training. Exercise mimetics will help battle the obesity epidemic, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer. Evans is the recipient of multiple awards, including the Albert Lasker Award (2004), the Wolf Prize (2012), and the 14th Asan Award in Medicine (2021), and is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.