David Baltimore

After serving as President of the California Institute of Technology for nine years, David Baltimore was appointed President Emeritus and the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Biology in 2006. He has contributed widely to the understanding of cancer, AIDS and the molecular basis of the human body’s immune response and has profoundly influenced national science policy on such issues as the AIDS epidemic and research in genetic engineering. In 1975 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research into viral replication that provided the key to understanding the life cycle of retroviruses. His recent research focused on control of inflammatory and immune responses as well as on the use of gene therapy methods to treat HIV and cancer in a program called “Engineering Immunity”.

He has played an important role in the development of American biotechnology since his involvement in the 1970’s in the formation of Collaborative Genetics. He helped found other companies, most recently Calimmune and Immune Design, and presently serves on the Board of Directors at Regulus Therapeutics as well as at several non-profit institutions, including the Broad Foundation and Broad Institute. He is also a member of numerous Scientific Advisory Boards, including Amgen, the Broad Institute, Ragon Institute, and Regulus. He is past-President and Chair of the American Association of the Advancement of Science and was named a Fellow of the American Associates for Cancer Research. He is the 1999 recipient of the National Medal of Science and he has published more than 700 peer-reviewed articles.