Richard D. Klausner is an American

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

who served as the 11th director of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Early life and education

Klausner was born in . His father was a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe th ...

, and Klausner would visit his father's laboratory as a child. He began studying

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 ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, but changed his focus to

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

, with the plan of becoming a doctor in a rural area. Klausner received his MD from Duke Medical School in 1976.

Career

In 1979, Klausner joined the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH) as a postdoctoral fellow. At age 30, Klausner was appointed to the chief of the cell biology and metabolism branch of the

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development The ''Eunice Kennedy Shriver'' National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aime ...

. In 1992, he directed the review of the NIH's intramural research programs, in which he recommended sweeping changes. He served as the director of the

from 1995 to 2001, where he managed a staff of 5,000 employees and a budget of $4.5 billion. In total, he spent more than 20 years at the NIH. He left the NCI to become the founding director of the Case Institute of Health, Science and Technology of the

Case Foundation Founded in 1997 by AOL co-founder Steve Case and his wife Jean Case, the Case Foundation invests in individuals, nonprofits, and social enterprises aiming to connect people, increase giving, and catalyze civic action. Echoing the foundation's dee ...

. He was the managing partner of the biotech venture capital firm, the Column Group. From 2002 to 2005, he was the executive director of the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

. He was a member of the Searle Scholars advisory board. He was a scientific advisor at the

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, formerly known as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1975 in Seattle, Washington. History The center grew out o ...

. He has been an Advisor to the Presidents of the Academies for counter-terrorism and a liaison to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, and was the chief strategy advisor for

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 bi ...

. Klausner co-founded

Juno Therapeutics Juno Therapeutics Inc is an American biopharmaceutical company founded in 2013 through a collaboration of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and pediatrics partner Seattle Children's Research Instit ...

in 2013
GRAIL
in 2015. and MindStrong Health in 2014. He was the chief medical officer of Illumina from 2013 to 2016. He was president of the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 ph ...

from 1995 to 1996.

Research

His research focused on

T cells A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell re ...

and the potential for

CAR-T In biology, chimeric antigen receptors (CARs)—also known as chimeric immunoreceptors, chimeric T cell receptors or artificial T cell receptors—are receptor proteins that have been engineered to give T cells the new ability to target a specific ...

therapies. He also has published research on the genetics of

Von Hippel–Lindau disease Von Hippel–Lindau disease (VHL), also known as Von Hippel–Lindau syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder with multisystem involvement. It is characterized by visceral cysts and benign tumors with potential for subsequent malignant transformation ...

, a condition which predisposes a person to developing cancer. He is an author of more than 300 scientific articles.

Personal life

Klausner has two sons and twin daughters.

Awards

* 1986 Elected to the

(ASCI) * 1993 Elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

* 1995 Elected to 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, and ...

* 1997 Dickson Prize in Medicine, University of Pittsburgh * 1998 Raymond Bourgine Award for Excellence in Cancer Research and Gold Medal of Paris * 1999 ASCI Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award * 2000 Medal of Honour,

International Agency for Research on Cancer The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC; french: Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer, CIRC) is an intergovernmental agency forming part of the World Health Organization of the United Nations. Its role is to conduct and ...

* 2018 Elected fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research

References

External links

NCI in the Post-Klausner Era
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klausner, Richard D. American oncologists Duke University School of Medicine alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Living people 1950s births National Institutes of Health faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Medicine Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center people