Leroy Hood

Leroy Hood is currently President of the Institute for Systems Biology. His 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, 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. Hood is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Association of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine. He has also played a role in founding numerous biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems, Systemix, Darwin, and Rosetta. Hood received an M.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers, has 14 issued patents, and has co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology, and genetics.