Biology and Medicine: Systems Approaches Transforming Health Care

Speaker: 
Leroy Hood
 
05 Apr 2011
 
5:00 PM
 
Sun Room, Memorial Union

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Biologist Leroy Hood is widely recognized for his invention of five instruments that now constitute the technological foundation for modern molecular biology and genomics. They include DNA and protein sequencers and synthesizers and the ink-jet oligonucleotide synthesizer used for deciphering the various types of biological information, such as DNA, RNA, proteins and systems. Hood's DNA sequencer, in particular, has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA, which was crucial to the mapping of the human genome. He is also coauthor of a popular book on the human genome project, The Code of Codes. Hood is the William Gates Chair of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Washington and president and cofounder of the Institute for Systems Biology. He has an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Lecture Series.

Leroy Hood's research has focused on fundamental biology (immunity, evolution, genomics) and on bringing engineering to biology through the development of five instruments; the DNA and protein sequencers and synthesizers and the ink-jet oligonucleotide synthesizer (making DNA arrays) for deciphering the various types of biological information (DNA, RNA, proteins and systems). He has applied these technologies to diverse fields including immunology, neurobiology, cancer biology, molecular evolution and systems medicine. Early in his career, he applied these technologies to the study of molecular immunology (and discovered many of the fundamental mechanisms for antibody diversity) and neurobiology. He cured the first neurological disease by gene transfer in mice. Dr. Hood is now pioneering the idea that the systems approach to disease, the emerging technologies, and powerful new computational and mathematical tools will move medicine from its current reactive mode to a predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory mode (P4 medicine) over the next 5-20 years. Dr. Hood has received 17 honorary degrees from Institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Yale, UCLA, and Whitman College. He has published more than 680 peer-reviewed papers, received 26 patents, and has co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, and genetics, and is just finishing a textbook on systems biology. In addition, he coauthored with Dan Keveles a popular book on the human genome project, The Code of Codes. Dr. Hood is one of only 7 (of more than 6000 members) scientists elected to all three academies (NAS, NAE and IOM). Dr. Hood has also played a role in founding more than 14 biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems, Systemix, Darwin and Rosetta. He is currently pioneering systems medicine and the systems approach to disease and has recently cofounded the company Integrated Diagnostics, that hopefully will become a platform company for P4 medicine.