Yuet W. Kan, MD

Dr. Kan is the Louis K. Diamond Professor of Hematology and chief of the Division of Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics at the University of California, San Francisco. He is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of human genetics. He discovered DNA polymorphism, which is now extensively used for genetic analysis and was the first to establish that a single DNA mutation could result in a human disease. His research is currently focused on the use of gene therapy to treat sickle cell anemia and thalassemia.

Dr. Kan is the recipient of many honors including the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine, the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award, the Helmut Horten Research Award, the American College of Physicians Award, the Waterford Award in Biomedical Sciences, the Allan Award of the American Society of Human Genetics, the Gairdner International Award and the Dameshek Award from the American Society of Hematology.

Dr. Kan also serves on the Committee on Human Rights and the Executive Council of the National Academy of Sciences and is a fellow of the Royal Society (London), a member of the Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing). In the past, he has served as president of the American Society of Hematology and was a member of the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.