Dr Phillip A Sharp

Phillip A. Sharp is Institute Professor (highest academic rank) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. His research interests have centered on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His landmark work in 1977 provided one of the first indications of "discontinuous genes" in mammalian cells. The discovery fundamentally changed scientists' understanding of gene structure and earned Dr. Sharp the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. A native of Kentucky, Dr. Sharp earned a B.A. degree from Union College, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He is co-founder of Biogen (now Biogen Idec) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.