Thomas Shenk

Thomas Shenk, Ph.D., is the James A. Elkins Professor of Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. He received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Detroit and his Ph.D. in Microbiology from Rutgers University. He trained as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Biology at Stanford University in the laboratory of Paul Berg.

Dr. Shenk is a virologist, who has investigated gene functions and pathogenesis of adenovirus, a DNA tumor virus, and human cytomegalovirus, a member of the herpes family of viruses. His laboratory’s current areas of focus include the dissection of cytomegalovirus gene functions, persistence, and latency. Dr. Shenk is the recipient of the Eli Lilly Award from the American Society for Microbiology, an American Cancer Society Professorship and an Investigatorship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and he is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Institute of Medicine. Dr. Shenk served as Chair of Princeton’s Department of Molecular Biology for two terms. He has served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Virology and as Chair of the Council for Research and Clinical Investigation of the American Cancer Society. He is a past President of the American Society for Virology and the American Society for Microbiology, and he served on the Board of Directors of Merck & Company for 11 years. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the Hepatitis B Foundation.