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Edison T. Liu, M.D.

President, CEO and professor

Conducts research focused on the functional genomics of breast cancer through an exploration of the entire genomic space.

The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center

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About Edison T. Liu, M.D.

Dr. Liu is the president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory. Previously, he was the founding executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore (2001-2011), and was the president of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) from 2007-2013. Between 1997 and 2001, he was the scientific director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Clinical Sciences in Bethesda, Md., where he was in charge of the intramural clinical translational science programs.

From 1987 to 1996, Dr. Liu was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was the director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer; the director of the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology at UNC's School of Public Health; chief of Medical Genetics; and the chair of the Correlative Science Committee of the national cooperative clinical trials group, CALGB. Dr. Liu is an international expert in cancer biology, genomics, human genetics, molecular epidemiology and translational medicine.

Dr. Liu's own scientific research has focused on the functional genomics of human cancers, particularly breast cancer, uncovering new oncogenes, and deciphering on a genomic scale the dynamics of gene regulation that modulate cancer biology. He has authored over 300 scientific papers and reviews, and co-authored two books. He obtained his B.S. in chemistry and psychology, as well as his M.D., at Stanford University. He served his internship and residency at Washington University's Barnes Hospital in St. Louis, followed by an oncology fellowship at Stanford. From 1982 to 1987 he was at the University of California, San Francisco, at the G.W. Hooper Foundation.

Grants, honors and accomplishments

2014 April - 2014 Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research (from the Human Genome Organization)

2013 January - Elected, Fellow of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences and Engineering

2010 October - Fellow of the Hastings Center (New York, Elected Membership)

2010-2013 - Re-elected - President, Human Genome Organization (HUGO)

2008 - Elected, Foreign Associate Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)

July 2007 - Awarded Doctor of Medical Sciences honoris causa, Queen’s University, Belfast September

June 2007-2010 - Elected – President, Human Genome Organization (HUGO)

September 2003 - Public Service Medal (National Day, 2003): for work in controlling SARS in Singapore (given by the Office of the President, Republic of Singapore)

April 2000 - Rosenthal Award, AACR: for the discovery that HER-2 status determines response to adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin.

April 1999-2001 - Elected-Board of Directors, American Association for Cancer Research

October 1996 - 1996 Brinker International Award for Breast Cancer Research - Basic Research Award

July 1995 - American Society of Clinical Investigation (Elected Membership)

December 1991-November1996 - Leukemia Society Scholar

October 1990-1993 - Komen Foundation Award for Breast Cancer Research (funding fellow salary)

July 1990-June 1994 - Jefferson Pilot Award: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Junior Faculty Award for Research Excellence

July 1985-1988 - Clinical Investigator Award, National Cancer Institute, K08- CA01036-02, Preceptor: Dr. J. Michael Bishop.

September 1983-1985 - Damon Runyan Cancer Fund Fellowship Preceptor: Dr. J. Michael Bishop (UCSF)

July-September 1974 - Ford Foundation Fellowship for Intensive Studies in Chinese, Stanford University

June 1973 - Phi Beta Kappa, Stanford University

June-September 1972 - National Science Foundation Fellowship in Chemistry 1972. To study the photoconversion of aziridines to ethylene for its agriculture applications. Preceptor: Dr. J. D. White

Selected Publications

View full list of publications

Press ReleaseAugust 01, 2018
A RACIPE for success
New five-year, $2.2M outstanding investigator grant to Mingyang Lu will support systems biology algorithm approach.
Research HighlightJuly 30, 2018
Immune system 2.0: Can we re-engineer the human immune response?
JAX researchers have demonstrated the ability to target and disrupt specific genes and/or alter their expression levels, which has important implications for both immunology research and clinical treatments.
Research HighlightJune 28, 2018
How do cancer cells achieve immortality?
Cancer cell immortality leads to massive tumors, metastatic spread, and potentially re-emergence. Researchers are working to determine how cancer cells achieve immortality.
- Cancer/Tumors
- Cancer
Research HighlightJune 21, 2018
Finding the genes controlling ovarian reserve could hold key to better female fertility care
Jackson Laboratory Assistant Professor Ewelina Bolcun-Filas, Ph.D., is looking at how multiple genetic factors regulating oocyte development determine the differences in each woman’s ovarian reserve.

Press ReleaseAugust 01, 2018
$2M NIH Grant to Study Genetic Mechanisms of Inherited Heart Muscle Disorders
Travis Hinson, M.D., has received more than $2 million from the National Institutes of Health National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study the mechanisms responsible for a serious and often fatal heart condition.
- Cardiovascular
- Genetics and Genomics
Research HighlightJuly 12, 2018
The distinct forms of an important genomic disruption
A new paper further explains the genomic disruption known as the tandem duplicator phenotype (TDP), a common attribute in some of the most deadly cancers of women.
Minute to UnderstandingJune 28, 2018
What is epigenetics?
Learn how epigenetic changes can affect an individual without physically changing their DNA sequence.
- Aging
- Genetics and Genomics
Research HighlightJune 11, 2018
Measuring tumor heterogeneity for better, evolution-based cancer treatment strategies
JAX Associate Professor Jeffrey Chuang, Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year grant totaling $2,650,484 from the National Cancer Institute for research that could pave the way for the first evolution-based approaches to cancer treatment.
- Cancer/Tumors
- Cancer