Leland Harrison "Lee" Hartwell (born October 30, 1939) is an American former president and director of 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 (state), Washington. History ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. He shared the 2001

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 ...

with

Paul Nurse Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (born 25 January 1949) is an English geneticist, former President of the Royal Society and Chief Executive and Director of the Francis Crick Institute. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along ...

and

Tim Hunt Sir Richard Timothy Hunt (born 19 February 1943) is a British biochemist and molecular physiologist. He was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Paul Nurse and Leland H. Hartwell for their discoveries of protein molecu ...

, for their discoveries of protein molecules that control the division (duplication) of cells. Working in yeast, Hartwell identified the fundamental role of checkpoints in cell cycle control, and CDC genes such as CDC28, which controls the start of the cycle—the progression through G1.

Education

Hartwell attended Glendale High School in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, and then received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

in 1961. In 1964, he received his PhD in biology from the

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

. From 1965 to 1968, he worked at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

as a professor. He moved to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1968. In a series of experiments from 1970 to 1971, Hartwell discovered the cell division cycle (''CDC'') genes in

baker's yeast Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise (expand and become lighter and softer) by converting the fermentable ...

(''

Saccharomyces cerevisiae ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungal microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have be ...

''). These genes regulate the cell cycle and

mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, ...

s in the genes are involved in some types of cancer.

Awards and honors

In addition to the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

, Hartwell has received awards and honors including the

Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize for Biology or Biochemistry is an annual prize awarded by Columbia University to a researcher or group of researchers who have made an outstanding contribution in basic research in the fields of biology or biochemist ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1995. He became a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

in 1987. In 1996, Hartwell joined the faculty of

and in 1997 became its president and director until he retired in 2010. In 1998 he 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 Massry Prize from the Keck School of Medicine,

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 2000. On July 9, 2003, Washington Governor

Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat from the State of Washington. Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese-American governor ...

awarded the Medal of Merit, the state's highest honor, to Hartwell. He is also a recipient of the Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction.

Research

His earliest publications focused on the isolation of temperature sensitive yeast mutants disabled in basic biological processes, including DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. This led to the identification of the CDC (Cell Division Cycle) genes, which function in promoting the progression through cell division, most notably CDC28, which encodes the yeast Cdk kinase. Other significant discoveries include introduction of the concept of cell cycle "checkpoints", which delay cell division when cellular insults are generated and also the identification and characterization of the mating signal transduction pathway.

Other positions

Hartwell is the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board at the Canary Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing new technologies for the early detection of cancer. He is also a founding co-chair of the Pacific Health Summit, and a member of its executive committee. In September 2009, it was announced that Hartwell would join the faculty of

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

as the Virginia G. Piper Chair of Personalized Medicine and co-director of the Biodesign Institute's Center for Sustainable Health with Dr. Michael Birt. He is also adjunct faculty at Amrita University in India.

Lee Hartwell Award

This award is given to scientists whose research in yeast has made the most impact in the broader areas of biology. Recipients of the award also give a lecture at the biennial Yeast Genetics Meeting. * 2016 – Susan Gasser, Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research * 2014 – George Church, Harvard Medical School * 2012 – Stan Fields, University of Washington, Seattle * 2010 – Randy Schekman, University of California, Berkeley * 2008 – Mitsuhiro Yanagida, Kyoto University * 2006 –

Kim Nasmyth Kim Ashley Nasmyth (born 18 October 1952) is an English geneticist, the Whitley Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, former scientific director of the Research Institute of Molecular Pathol ...

, Oxford University * 2004 – Susan Lindquist, Whitehead Institute * 2002 – Leland Hartwell, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hartwell, Leland H. 1939 births Living people American Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Hartwell Hartwell University of Washington faculty Arizona State University faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research Massry Prize recipients American scientists Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center people