Lawrence Corey - Education and Career

Education and Career

Corey received a B.A. (1967) and M.D. (1971) from the University of Michigan, and received postgraduate training at the University of Michigan, University of Washington, and the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the early 1980s Corey worked with Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and pharmacologist Dr. Gertrude Elion to demonstrate that an antiviral that was selective and specific for a viral-specified enzyme could be safely and effectively administered to control a chronic viral infection (herpes simplex virus-2). These studies were directly responsible for the subsequent successful quest of the pharmaceutical and medical sciences communities to develop effective antiviral therapy for hepatitis B and HIV.

In 1987 Corey directed the AIDS Clinical Trials Group, or ACTG, which conducted pivotal clinical trials confirming the use of the antiretroviral drug AZT to reduce maternal-fetal transmission of HIV and the usefulness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). His research group was the first to identify an association between the virus that causes genital herpes (herpes simplex virus) and HIV. Through the ACTG he also was the first to lead the integration of community members into clinical research activities.

In the mid-1990s Corey increasingly focused his work in the area of vaccine development, and in 1998 worked with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop a global clinical trials group to speed the development of HIV vaccines. In 2002, Corey became the major driver in conceiving of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise. The Enterprise is one of the few scientific programs that is overseen by leaders of the major industrialized countries of the world.

In July 2008, Dr. Corey co-founded the biotechnology company Immune Design, to develop vaccines built on emerging understanding of the human immune system. The Company's additional founders include Dr. David Baltimore, Nobel Laureate, former president of Caltech, and a leading immunologist; Dr. Steven Reed, founder of the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), Dr. Lili Yang of Caltech, and Dr. Pin Wang of University of Southern California. On July 30, 2010, Dr Corey was named the fourth president of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

In addition to his professorships at the University of Washington, Corey is currently principal investigator of the US HIV Vaccine Trials Network and holder of the Lawrence Corey Endowed Chair in Medical Virology at the University of Washington. In 2008, he was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the (US) National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Corey is one of the most highly cited and funded investigators in the United States. He has authored 12 books and more than 600 scientific publications and is a member of numerous scientific committees and editorial boards, including the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors for Basic Sciences.