United States
In recognition of her pioneering and imaginative contributions to human health and prevention of disease; of her unparalleled and brave determination in using scientific tools to promote human rights causes; and of her brilliance and warmth, which taken together provide an inspirational role model for scientists and students all around the world.
Prof. Mary-Claire King is a human geneticist who has made a lasting impact on the research of cancer genetics. Over three decades of research and advocacy, she has ventured fearlessly into uncharted territories, demonstrating a deep commitment to human rights and providing a role model for scientists the world over.
She holds a BA cum laude in mathematics from Carleton College in Minnesota (1967) and a PhD in genetics from the University of California, Berkeley (1973). Her dissertation revealed that DNA sequences of humans and chimpanzees are 99% identical. She was next a postdoc at UC San Francisco, then a professor at UC Berkeley from 1976-1995.
Since 1995, Prof. King has been the American Cancer Society Professor at the University of Washington in Seattle.
In 1990, after years of painstaking research, Prof. King proved that breast cancer is inherited in some families, as the result of mutations in a single gene, which she named BRCA1. This revolutionary finding transformed accepted conventions regarding not only the genetics of cancer, but of many other complex common diseases as well. Prof. King’s work has also led to lifesaving treatments for countless women around the world.
In addition to cancer, Dr. King’s research interests span the genetic bases of hearing loss (with Prof. Karen Avraham of Tel Aviv University and Prof. Moien Kanaan of Bethlehem University), of Mendelian disorders (with Prof. Ephrat Levy-Lahad of Shaare Zedek Medical Center), of severe mental illness, and of human diversity and evolution.
Prof. King pioneered the use of DNA sequencing for human rights investigations, developing the approach of sequencing mitochondrial DNA preserved in human remains and applying this method to the identification of kidnapped children in Argentina. Her work with human rights organizations has also identified missing persons in Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Croatia, Serbia, and the Philippines, and she has assisted the United Nation’s war crimes tribunals on multiple investigations.
Prof. Mary-Claire King is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous accolades, including the US National Medal of Science (2016); the Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science (2014); the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine (2018); the Canada International Gairdner Award (2021); the Weizmann Institute Award for Women in Science (2006); and 19 honorary degrees from institutions across the globe.