George Quentin Daley is an American biologist and physician. He is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, and Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology 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 ...

. He was formerly the Samuel E. Lux IV Endowed Chair in Hematology/Oncology at

Boston Children’s Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care Pediatric ...

, later the Robert A. Stranahan Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, an investigator of the

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

,Investigators, Howard Hughes Medical Institut

Retrieved 2010-08-30. Associate Director of the Boston Children's Hospital Stem Cell Program, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.Principal Faculty, Harvard Stem Cell Institut

Retrieved 2010-08-30. He is a past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (2007–2008).Officers, Leadership, International Society for Stem Cell Researc

Retrieved 2010-08-30.

Early life and education

Daley was born in

Catskill, New York Catskill is a town in the southeastern section of Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 11,298 at the 2020 census, the largest town in the county. The western part of the town is in the Catskill Park. The town contains a v ...

. Daley received his Bachelor of Arts ''magna cum laude'' from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

(1982), his PhD in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

(1989), and his MD from

, where he was the twelfth individual in the school's history to be awarded the degree ''summa cum laude'' (1991). He served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at the

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

and is currently a staff physician in Hematology/Oncology at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

and

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 ...

.Specialists, Children's Hospital Bosto

Retrieved 2010-08-30. As a graduate student working with Nobelist

David Baltimore David Baltimore (born March 7, 1938) is an American biologist, university administrator, and 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine. He is a professor of biology at the California Institute of Tech ...

, Daley demonstrated that the BCR/ABL oncogene induces

chronic myeloid leukemia Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumula ...

(CML) in a mouse model,DALEY ''et al.'', SCIENCE 1990 which validated BCR/ABL as a target for drug blockade and encouraged the development of

imatinib Imatinib, sold under the brand names Gleevec and Glivec (both marketed worldwide by Novartis) among others, is an oral targeted therapy medication used to treat cancer. Imatinib is a small molecule inhibitor targeting multiple tyrosine kinases ...

(Gleevec; Novartis), a magic-bullet chemotherapy that induces remissions in virtually every CML patient. Daley's studies have clarified mechanisms of Gleevec resistance and informed novel combination chemotherapeutic regimens.

Research

Daley's research seeks to translate insights in

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can change into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type of cell ...

biology into improved therapies for genetic and malignant diseases. His laboratory has pioneered human cell culture-based and murine models of human blood disease and cancer.Biography, Stem Cell Program Leadership, Children's Hospital Bosto

Retrieved 2010-08-30. Important research contributions from his laboratory include the creation of customized stem cells to treat genetic immune deficiency in a mouse model (together with

Rudolf Jaenisch Rudolf Jaenisch (born on April 22, 1942) is a professor of biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisc ...

),RIDEOUT ET AL, CELL 2002 the differentiation of germ cells from embryonic stem cells (cited as a "Top Ten Breakthrough" by ''

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

'' in 2003),Biography, 2004 Recipients, NIH Director's Pioneer Awar

Retrieved 2010-08-30.GEIJSEN ET AL., NATURE 2003/4 the generation of disease-specific pluripotent stem cells by direct reprogramming of human fibroblasts (cited in the "Breakthrough of the Year" issue of ''Science'' magazine in 2008),Bios, Team, MPM Capita

Retrieved 2010-08-30.PARK ET AL, CELL 2008 and demonstration of the role of the RNA-binding protein Lin28 in cancer and metabolic disease. He has been elected a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

, and a member of the

Institute of Medicine of the National Academies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

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 p ...

, American Association of Physicians and American Pediatric Societies. Daley was an inaugural winner of the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2004), which provides a five-year unrestricted grant to pursue highly innovative research, and received the Judson Daland Prize from the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

for achievement in patient-oriented research,Recipients of the Judson Daland Prize, American Philosophical Societ

Retrieved 2010-08-30. the E. Mead Johnson Award from the

American Pediatric Society The American Pediatric Society (APS) is the first pediatric society established in North America. Created in 1887, the APS pursues a vision of an engaged, inclusive, and impactful community of pediatric thought leaders. The APS mission is to shape t ...

for contributions to stem cell research,Member Information, Society for Pediatric Researc

Retrieved 2010-08-30. the E. Donnall Thomas Prize from the

American Society of Hematology The American Society of Hematology (ASH) is a professional organization representing hematologists, founded in 1958. Its annual meeting is held in December of every year and has attracted more than 30,000 attendees. The society publishes the medi ...

for advances in induced pluripotent stem cell research, and the Rowley Prize from the International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation. He has also received awards recognizing his contributions to medical research from 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 ...

,Meet the Scientists, National Heart Lunch and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Healt

Retrieved 2010-08-30. the New England Cancer Society, Harvard Medical School, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America. In addition to funding by the NIH, Daley's research has been supported by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...

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 ...

, Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation,

Burroughs Wellcome Fund The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an American non-profit medical research organization that provides funding for biomedical research, STEM education, and areas of career development for scientists. Since 1970, it has been headquartered in Nor ...

, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, Roche Foundation for Anemia Research,

Alex's Lemonade Stand Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (previously known as Alex's Lemonade Stand and currently abbreviated as ALSF) is an American pediatric cancer charity founded by Alexandra "Alex" Scott (January 18, 1996 – August 1, 2004), who lived in Connecticu ...

Ellison Medical Foundation The Ellison Medical Foundation, a 501(c)(3) Private Nonoperating Foundation, was founded in 1997 and is located in Bethesda, Maryland. The foundation supported research in the following discipline areas: biomedical research on aging, age-related ...

, the

Emerson Collective Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the collective, which operates under a limited liabilit ...

and the Doris Duke Medical Foundation. Daley has been prominent in advocating for ethical oversight of human stem cell research. On behalf of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), he chaired the special international task force that formulated the ISSCR Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research (2006) and as president of the ISSCR empaneled and served on the special task force that wrote the ISSCR Guidelines for Clinical Translation of Stem Cells (2008),Information for Scientists, ISSCR Retrieved 2010-08-30. which have served as a roadmap for advancing stem cell science into clinical trials. Daley has testified six times before committees of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

to advocate for expanded governmental support for stem cell research. He serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, formed in 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic and threats from emerging infectious diseases. He has served on the scientific advisory board of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and on the editorial board of the journals ''Science'', ''Cell'', ''Cell Stem Cell'', ''Stem Cells'', and ''Blood''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daley, George Q. Scientists from New York (state) Harvard Medical School alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Living people Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Academics from Boston Fellows of the AACR Academy Members of the National Academy of Medicine