Jerry W. Shay

Dr. Shay has been a consultant and on multiple scientific advisory boards for companies such as Procter Gamble, Corixa, BioWhitaker, Clontech, Rexahn, Sierra Science and Elizabeth Therapeutics. In addition he helped start Geron Corporation that focuses on telomerase therapeutics; Life Length a commercial telomere length measurement company; and Reata Pharmaceuticals who is developing anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory modulators for patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease.

Dr. Shay received his PhD from the University of Kansas, did postdoctoral training at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and is currently the Vice Chairman of the Department of Cell Biology and the Associate Director of the NCI Designated Harold Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Dr. Shay is a named inventor on numerous US patents and has received many scientific and teaching awards. Among these he received the AlliedSignal Award for Research on Aging, the American Aging Association Hayflick Award, the Ted Nash Award, the Popular Science “Best of What’s New” Award, and the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award. Dr. Shay holds the Southland Financial Corporation Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Research and is a Distinguish Professor at UT Southwestern having received the University of Texas Regent Outstanding Teaching Award, and the Minnie Steven Piper Foundation Professor Award. In 2015 he received the Distinguished Basic Science Educator Award and in 2016 the May Kay Foundation established a Distinguished Professorship in Cancer Research in honor of Dr. Shay. Finally, in 2017 Dr. Shay was awarded the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NIH Alliance Pioneer Award.

Dr. Shay has been noted as a highly influential biomedical researcher as noted by the Institute for Scientific Research and Science Watch, with over 30 issued patents, >500 peer reviewed publications and a citation h-index of 112.