Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne
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Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne (born December 18, 1959) is a
Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadia ...
neuroscientist A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...
who is the 11th and current president of Stanford University. Previously, he was a professor at the
University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It con ...
and then president of Rockefeller University in New York City. He was formerly executive vice president for research and chief scientific officer at Genentech. He is a member of the
Cure Alzheimer's Fund Cure Alzheimer's Fund (CAF) is an American non-profit organizationGuideStar Accessed 26 March 2014.Better Business Bureau. Accessed 26 March 2014. based in Wellesley, Massachusetts. It supports and funds research focusing on understanding and poten ...
's Scientific Advisory Board. As of 2021, he is on the boards of directors of Denali Therapeutics and
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an American biotechnology company headquartered in Westchester County, New York. The company was founded in 1988. Originally focused on neurotrophic factors and their regenerative capabilities, giving rise to ...
, as well as the scientific advisory boards of Denali Therapeutics and
Agios Pharmaceuticals Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a public American pharmaceutical company pioneering therapies for genetically defined diseases, with a near-term focus on developing therapies for hemolytic anemias. The company was founded in 2008 (or 2007) by Lewis ...
. In 2022, Stanford University opened an investigation into allegations of Tessier-Lavigne's involvement in fabricating results in articles published between 2001 and 2008.


Early life and education

Tessier-Lavigne was born in
Trenton, Ontario Trenton (2001 population 16,770) is a large unincorporated community in Central Ontario in the municipality of Quinte West, Ontario, Canada. Located on the Bay of Quinte, it is the starting point for the Trent-Severn Waterway, which continues n ...
, Canada. He grew up in Europe from ages 7 to 17, where his father was serving with
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
as part of the Canadian Armed Forces. He was the first in his family to attend college. Tessier-Lavigne received a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
with a major in
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
from
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
in Canada in 1980 and a
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
with a major in philosophy and
physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...
from the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in 1982. He received a
Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in physiology from
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
in 1987. Tessier-Lavigne attended the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he "first encountered the
nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes ...
and fell in love with it," graduating with first-class honor. His
doctoral advisor A doctoral advisor (also dissertation director, dissertation advisor; or doctoral supervisor) is a member of a university faculty whose role is to guide graduate students who are candidates for a doctorate, helping them select coursework, as well ...
at University College London was David Attwell. He did postdoctoral research at the MRC Developmental Neurobiology Unit at University College London in 1987 and at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
with Thomas Jessell from 1987 to 1991.


Career

Tessier-Lavigne started his career at the
University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It con ...
from 1991 to 2001 and at Stanford University starting in 2001. Genentech hired him in 2003 as its senior vice president of Research Drug Discovery. He cited the firm's "potential to create breakthrough therapies for unmet medical needs" as his reason for leaving academia.Marc Tessier-Lavigne - Executive Vice President: Research and Chief Scientific Officer
, Genentech. Accessed September 13, 2010.
His research on the development of the brain has uncovered details of how Alzheimer's disease is triggered.Pollock, Andrew
"Genentech Scientist to Lead Rockefeller University"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', September 8, 2010. Accessed September 13, 2010.
In 2011 Tessier-Lavigne joined Rockefeller University as its 10th president, succeeding Paul Nurse, who returned to Britain to take over as president of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
. Rockefeller University called Tessier-Lavigne, who supervised a team of 1,400 researchers, the "Board's unanimous first choice for the position".Staff
"Rockefeller University Elects Marc Tessier-Lavigne 10th President"
Rockefeller University press release dated September 9, 2010.
He would be the first high-ranking science employee to leave Genentech following its acquisition by
Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX ...
in March 2009. The departure of Tessier-Lavigne from Genentech raised concerns that the company — described by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' as being "among the most innovative and successful biotechnology companies in the world" — would see a negative effect on its scientific culture. Tessier-Lavigne stated that his choice to leave Genentech was unrelated to the Roche merger and that "this is probably the only job that could have lured me away from Genentech." Russell L. Carson, chairman of the board of trustees at Rockefeller University, said that he had "literally called him cold" to offer him the position and that Tessier-Lavigne had the strong scientific background needed to oversee the 70 independent laboratories that operate within the university and whose heads report directly to the president. Richard Scheller, Tessier-Lavigne's superior, called the move "part of the tradition of exchange between academia and Genentech." While it was too early to discuss specific goals, Tessier-Lavigne said that he hoped to work on transforming basic science into treatments for disease. Tessier-Lavigne is also a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company,
Xconomy Xconomy is a Boston, Massachusetts–based media company providing news on business, life sciences, and technology{{cite web , title=Company Overview of Xconomy, Inc. , url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=3 ...
. On February 4, 2016, Stanford University announced that Tessier-Lavigne would become Stanford's 11th president, succeeding John L. Hennessy.Staff
/ref> In November 2020 he was appointed an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...
, one of that nation's highest honors, "for his groundbreaking contributions to developmental neuroscience, and his renowned academic leadership and strong advocacy of science." In November 2022, Stanford announced that its Board of Trustees would oversee an examination of Tessier-Lavigne's publications, "over allegations that neurobiology papers that he co-authored contain multiple manipulated images". Scientific integrity consultant Elisabeth Bik had raised concerns about four papers (in such journals as ''
Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
'' and ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
'') that were co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne, findings which were confirmed by ''
The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the ...
''.


Honours

*Honorary degree,
University of Pavia The University of Pavia ( it, Università degli Studi di Pavia, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; la, Alma Ticinensis Universitas) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one ...
, 2006. *Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
, elected 2013 *Elected to the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
, 2017. *Appointed an Officer of the
Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...
, 2020. *Tessier-Lavigne has been also elected a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine and as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a fellow of the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
and the
Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...
in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, an honorary graduand of
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, and an honorary fellow of New College, Oxford. *Tessier-Lavigne became an international fellow at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) in 2020. *Tessier-Lavigne received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
presented by Awards Council member Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2022.


Personal life

Tessier-Lavigne met his wife, Mary Hynes, as a postdoc at Columbia. They have three children, Christian, Kyle, and Ella.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tessier-Lavigne, Marc 1959 births Living people Alumni of New College, Oxford Alumni of University College London Canadian expatriate academics in the United States Canadian Rhodes Scholars Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McGill University Faculty of Science alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of Rockefeller University University of California, San Francisco faculty People from Quinte West Canadian neuroscientists Stanford University faculty Stanford University Department of Biology faculty Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Genentech people Pfizer people Presidents of Stanford University Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the National Academy of Medicine Officers of the Order of Canada