Thomas J. Kelly (oncologist)
Encyclopedia
Thomas J. Kelly is an American cancer researcher whose work focuses on the molecular mechanisms of DNA replication. Kelly is also Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, the basic research arm of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
in New York City. As director, Kelly oversees over one hundred research laboratories focused on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. He holds the Center’s Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Cancer Research.
Before joining Sloan-Kettering in 2002, Kelly was Professor and Director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences.
Kelly pioneered the study of DNA replication in eukaryotic
cells by using DNA viruses as model systems. His laboratory developed the first cell-free systems for studying the biochemistry of DNA replication in human cells, enabling the identification and functional characterization of components of the human replication machinery.
In recognition of this work he received the 2004 Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation and the 2010 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University.
Kelly is married to Mary Lucinda Kelly, an author, and lives in New York City.
in 1962, a Ph.D.
in biophysics
in 1968, and an M.D. in 1969. While a postdoctoral fellow with Hamilton O. Smith at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine during 1969-70, Kelly determined the DNA sequences recognized by restriction enzymes, which are major tools in recombinant DNA research. In 1970 he moved to the National Institutes of Health
as a member of the United States Public Health Service
and conducted research on the DNA viruses, adenovirus and SV40
, which cause tumors in animals. He joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1972, where he began to exploit viruses as potentially powerful model systems for exploring the mechanisms of DNA replication in human cells.
Using proteins derived from human cells, he and his colleagues developed the first cell-free DNA replication systems capable of duplicating the complete genomes of adenovirus and SV40. The SV40 system proved to be a particularly useful system because SV40 relies largely on the cellular replication machinery for the duplication of its genome. Thus, biochemical analysis of the SV40 system made it possible to identify and functionally characterize proteins and enzymes that carry out the duplication of the chromosomal DNA in human cells. In subsequent work Kelly and colleagues have studied how DNA replication is regulated during the cell cycle.
Since 2002, Kelly has been the Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, where he has led major expansion of its laboratory research programs. A major theme of the research expansion at Sloan-Kettering has been the development of collaborations that bring together both basic and translational researchers to study the causes and potential treatments of cancer. Kelly also led the establishment of the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which provides a novel curriculum in basic and translational cancer biology leading to the Ph.D. degree.10
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
in New York City. As director, Kelly oversees over one hundred research laboratories focused on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. He holds the Center’s Benno C. Schmidt Chair of Cancer Research.
Before joining Sloan-Kettering in 2002, Kelly was Professor and Director of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences.
Kelly pioneered the study of DNA replication in eukaryotic
Eukaryote
A eukaryote is an organism whose cells contain complex structures enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotes may more formally be referred to as the taxon Eukarya or Eukaryota. The defining membrane-bound structure that sets eukaryotic cells apart from prokaryotic cells is the nucleus, or nuclear...
cells by using DNA viruses as model systems. His laboratory developed the first cell-free systems for studying the biochemistry of DNA replication in human cells, enabling the identification and functional characterization of components of the human replication machinery.
In recognition of this work he received the 2004 Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation and the 2010 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize of Columbia University.
Kelly is married to Mary Lucinda Kelly, an author, and lives in New York City.
Career
Kelly was born in Birmingham, AL, and raised in Waltham and Weston, Massachusetts. He pursued undergraduate and graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University, receiving a B.A. in human biologyHuman biology
Human Biology is an interdisciplinary area of study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, epidemiology, ecology, nutrition, population genetics and sociocultural influences. It is closely related to...
in 1962, a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
in 1968, and an M.D. in 1969. While a postdoctoral fellow with Hamilton O. Smith at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine during 1969-70, Kelly determined the DNA sequences recognized by restriction enzymes, which are major tools in recombinant DNA research. In 1970 he moved to the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
as a member of the United States Public Health Service
United States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
and conducted research on the DNA viruses, adenovirus and SV40
SV40
SV40 is an abbreviation for Simian vacuolating virus 40 or Simian virus 40, a polyomavirus that is found in both monkeys and humans...
, which cause tumors in animals. He joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1972, where he began to exploit viruses as potentially powerful model systems for exploring the mechanisms of DNA replication in human cells.
Using proteins derived from human cells, he and his colleagues developed the first cell-free DNA replication systems capable of duplicating the complete genomes of adenovirus and SV40. The SV40 system proved to be a particularly useful system because SV40 relies largely on the cellular replication machinery for the duplication of its genome. Thus, biochemical analysis of the SV40 system made it possible to identify and functionally characterize proteins and enzymes that carry out the duplication of the chromosomal DNA in human cells. In subsequent work Kelly and colleagues have studied how DNA replication is regulated during the cell cycle.
Since 2002, Kelly has been the Director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, where he has led major expansion of its laboratory research programs. A major theme of the research expansion at Sloan-Kettering has been the development of collaborations that bring together both basic and translational researchers to study the causes and potential treatments of cancer. Kelly also led the establishment of the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, which provides a novel curriculum in basic and translational cancer biology leading to the Ph.D. degree.10
Memberships
- Member, National Institutes of HealthNational Institutes of HealthThe National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
Advisory Committee to the Director - Member, Institute of MedicineInstitute of MedicineThe Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
- Member, National Academy of SciencesNational Academy of SciencesNational Academy of Sciences commonly refers to the academy in the United States of America.National Academy of Sciences may also refer to :* National Academy of Sciences of Argentina* Armenian National Academy of Sciences...
- Member, American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical SocietyThe American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
- Member, Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars
Awards
- Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, 2010
- Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, 2004
Selected publications
- Challberg, MD, Kelly, TJ, Jr (1979). Adenovirus DNA replication in vitro. PNAS USA 76:655-59.
- Li, JJ and Kelly, TJ (1984). Simian virus 40 DNA replication in vitro. PNAS USA 81:6973-77.
- Kelly, TJ, Jr and Smith, HO (1970). A restriction enzyme from Hemophilus influenzae: II. Base sequence of the recognition site. J Mol Biol. 51:393-409.
- Challberg, MD and Kelly, TJ (1989). Animal virus DNA replication. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 58:671-717.
- Kelly TJ and Stillman B (2006). Duplication of DNA in Eukaryotic Cells. In DNA Replication and Human Disease (ed. M.L. DePamphilis), pp. 1-29. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
- Kelly, TJ, Brown, GW (2000). Regulation of chromosome replication. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 69:829-80.
External links
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Lab page
- Interview with Thomas Kelly
- http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/48503.cfm
- http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz/bio_Thomas_Kelly.html
- Fanning, E and Zhao, K (2009). SV40 DNA replication: from the A gene to a nanomachine. Virology 384:352-9.
- http://www.sloankettering.edu/gerstner/html/54491.cfm