Timothy J. Ley

Timothy J. Ley, MD
Timothy J. Ley
Scientific career
InstitutionsWashington University School of Medicine

Timothy J. Ley is an American hematologist and cancer biologist. He is the Lewis T. and Rosalind B. Apple Professor of Oncology in the department of medicine, and is chief of the section of stem cell biology in the division of oncology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center.[1]

Ley's research group focuses on the genetics and genomics of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). His lab studies the development of normal and leukemic blood cells. His work is focused on identifying the mutations and epigenetic events that are responsible for the initiation and progression of AML.[2]

Ley led the team that sequenced the first cancer genome (of an AML patient).[3][4] He has gone on to develop projects that will use whole genome sequencing to help diagnose and treat patients with AML.[5]

To better understand the role of many of the mutations discovered through whole genome sequencing of leukemias, he and his colleagues have constructed several mouse models of AML, which are very similar to human AML.[6] Dr. Ley's laboratory has also helped to define the roles of granzymes for the functions of cytotoxic and regulatory T cells.[7]

Ley grew up in Lakota, Iowa. He received his B.A. degree from Drake University in 1974, and his M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine in 1978. He did his internship and residency in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, was a clinical associate at the NHLBI (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute), a Hematology-Oncology Fellow at Washington University Medical Center, and a senior investigator at the NHLBI before moving to Washington University in 1986.

In 2015, Ley was appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board [8] by President Obama.[9] Ley was the recipient of the Leopold Griffuel Prize[10] for Basic Science in 2022.

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Timothy Ley, MD". Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Cancer gene complexity revealed." "BBC News". 7 August 2009.
  3. ^ Timothy Ley; et al. (November 2008). "DNA sequencing of a cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukaemia genome". Nature. 456 (7218): 66โ€“72. Bibcode:2008Natur.456...66L. doi:10.1038/nature07485. PMC 2603574. PMID 18987736.
  4. ^ "Experts Decode Cancer Patient's Genes, Seeking Treatment Clues." New York Times. 6 November 2008.
  5. ^ "In Treatment for Leukemia, Glimpses of the Future." "New York Times". 7 July 2012.
  6. ^ Siteman Cancer Center History
  7. ^ Siteman Cancer Center Profile
  8. ^ News from the National Academy of Sciences
  9. ^ President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts
  10. ^ Leopold Griffuel Prize