Dr. Leroy Hood
Dr. Leroy Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, will be the guest of Weill Cornell's Department of Surgery as the William D. Stubenbord Visiting Professor. Dr. Hood's lecture, "Systems Biology and Systems Medicine: Toward Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory Medicine," will be delivered on Monday, Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. in Uris Auditorium. A reception will be held afterward in Griffis Faculty Club.
Dr. Hood's research has focused on the study of molecular immunology, biotechnology and genomics. His professional career began at the California Institute of Technology where he and his colleagues pioneered four instruments — the DNA gene sequencer and synthesizer, and the protein synthesizer and sequencer — which comprise the technological foundation for contemporary molecular biology. In particular, the DNA sequencer has revolutionized genomics by allowing the rapid automated sequencing of DNA, which played a crucial role in contributing to the successful mapping of the human genome during the 1990s. In 1992, Dr. Hood moved to the University of Washington as founder and chairman of the cross-disciplinary Department of Molecular Biotechnology. In 2000, he co-founded the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington, to pioneer systems approaches to biology and medicine.
The William D. Stubenbord Visiting Professorships were established in 1968 by a gift from the Louis Calder Foundation in memory of Louis Calder Sr. and Louis Calder Jr., and in recognition of the outstanding professional services and long friendship that the late Dr. William D. Stubenbord had for them and members of their families. Dr. Stubenbord, who died in 1982, was a 1931 graduate of the Medical College and was associated with The New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center during his entire medical career. The departments of the Medical College are, in rotation, host to visiting scholars. Each visiting professor resides at Weill Cornell for approximately one week and in that time delivers a special lecture and holds seminars with faculty and students.