William G. Kaelin Jr. (born November 23, 1957) is an American Nobel laureate

physician-scientist A physician-scientist (in North American English) or clinician-scientist (in British English and Australian English) is a physician who divides their professional time between direct clinical practice with patients and scientific research. Physicia ...

. He is a professor of medicine at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and the

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana-Farber is the founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated ...

. His laboratory studies

tumor suppressor A tumor suppressor gene (TSG), or anti-oncogene, is a gene that regulates a cell (biology), cell during cell division and replication. If the cell grows uncontrollably, it will result in cancer. When a tumor suppressor gene is mutated, it results ...

proteins. In 2016, Kaelin received the

Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research The Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research is one of the Lasker Award, prizes awarded by the Lasker Foundation for a fundamental discovery that opens up a new area of biomedical science. The award frequently precedes a Nobel Prize in Phys ...

and the AACR Princess Takamatsu Award. He also won the

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine () is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, acco ...

in 2019 along with Peter J. Ratcliffe and

Gregg L. Semenza Gregg Leonard Semenza (born July 12, 1956) is an American pediatrician and Professor of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He serves as the director of the vascular program at the Institute for Cell Engineering. He is a 2 ...

Early life and education

Kaelin was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on November 23, 1957, to William George and Nancy Priscilla (Horn) Kaelin. Kaelin earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics and chemistry at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, and stayed to attain an MD, graduating in 1982. He did his residency in internal medicine at

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, th ...

and his fellowship in oncology at

(DFCI). After deciding as an undergraduate that research was not a strength of his, at DFCI he did research in the lab of

David Livingston David Livingston is an American television producer and director. He is mostly known for his involvement in the writing and production of the various modern ''Star Trek'' franchises. Livingston also has production credits on several episodes ...

, where he found success in the study of

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and 80% of retinoblastoma cas ...

. In 1992, he set up his own lab at DFCI down the hall from Livingston's where he investigated hereditary forms of cancer such as

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

. He became a professor at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

in 2002.

Career

He became assistant director of Basic Science at the Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in 2008. His research at Dana–Farber has focused on understanding the role of mutations in tumor suppressor genes in cancer development. His major work has been on the

, von Hippel–Lindau, and

p53 p53, also known as tumor protein p53, cellular tumor antigen p53 (UniProt name), or transformation-related protein 53 (TRP53) is a regulatory transcription factor protein that is often mutated in human cancers. The p53 proteins (originally thou ...

tumor suppressor genes. His work has been funded by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation The Doris Duke Foundation (DDF) is a charitable foundation based in the United States. It was established in 1996, following the 1993 death of billionaire heiress Doris Duke, who bequeathed the bulk of her $1.2 billion fortune to the Foundation, w ...

and others. He serves as vice-chair of Scientific Programs on th
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Board
of Directors and Chair of the Damon Runyon Physician-Scientist Training Award selection committee and is a member of the board of directors at

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was a Union Army officer, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and recruited a company of men to ...

and the

Stand Up to Cancer Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) is a charitable organization that was established as a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF). In 2022, SU2C was separately incorporated and was recognized by the IRS as a Section 501(c)(3) public charit ...

scientific advisory committee.

Research

HIF Nobel Prize Physiology Medicine 2019 Hegasy ENG

Following his post-doctorate, Kaelin set up a laboratory at Dana-Farber in 1993 to continue his research on tumor suppression. He had become interested in

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

(VHL). VHL tumors, caused by gene mutation, were known to be

angiogenic Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels, formed in the earlier stage of vasculogenesis. Angiogenesis continues the growth of the vasculature mainly by processes of sprouting and s ...

, creating blood vessels that secreted

erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production ( erythropoiesis) in th ...

(EPO), a hormone known to be part of the body's mechanic to react to hypoxia, or low oxygen levels in the blood. Kaelin hypothesized that there may be a connection between the formation of VHL tumors and the deficiency of the body to detect oxygen. Kaelin's research found that in VHL subjects, there are genes that express the formation of a protein critical in the EPO process, but which the mutation suppressed. Kaelin's work aligned with that of Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg Semenza who separately had identified a two-part protein,

hypoxia-inducible factors Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are transcription factors that respond to decreases in available oxygen in the cellular environment, or hypoxia. They also respond to instances of pseudohypoxia, such as thiamine deficiency. Both hypoxia an ...

(HIF) that was essential to EPO production and which was triggered by oxygen levels in the blood. Kaelin's work found that the VHL protein would help regulate the HIF, and in subjects where the VHL proteins were not present, the HIF would overproduce EPO and lead to cancer. The combined work of Kaelin, Ratcliffe, and Semenza identified the pathway of how cells detect and react to oxygen levels in the blood, and have led to the development of drugs to help patients with

anaemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availab ...

and

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

Personal life

He was married to breast cancer surgeon

Carolyn Kaelin Carolyn Kaelin (born Carolyn Mary Scerbo; April 4, 1961 – July 28, 2015) was an American cancer surgeon. She worked at the Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and founded the Comprehensive Breast Health Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in ...

from 1988 until her death from

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nons ...

in 2015. They have two children.

Selected awards

References

External links

* including the Nobel Lecture 7 December 2019 ''The von Hippel-Lindau Tumor Suppressor Protein: Insights into Oxygen Sensing'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaelin, William Jr. 1957 births Living people Physicians from New York City Scientists from New York City American cancer researchers American Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Duke University School of Medicine alumni Fellows of the AACR Academy Harvard Medical School faculty Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research Members of the National Academy of Medicine