Prof. W. French Anderson, born in 1936, an American by nationality, is the Director of the Gene Therapy Laboratories at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, where he also serves as Professor of Biochemistry and Pediatrics, is a Full Member of the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is the Program Coordinator for Gene Therapy in the Institute of Genetic Medicine.

Before joining the USC Faculty in 1992, he was Chief of the Molecular Hematology Branch at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institute of Health where he worked as a gene therapy researcher for 27 years and was also Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Physiology in the NIH Graduate Program.

 

Dr. Anderson headed the team that carried out the first approved human gene therapy clinical protocol, is recognized as an ongoing innovator in the research area of human gene transfer, and is also known as a leading ethicist in the field of human genetic engineering.

 

In addition, Anderson has been prominent in explaining the ethical and societal implications of this technology to the scientific as well as the lay public. He has been called the "Father of Gene Therapy". Dr. Anderson has not only been a leader in the science of gene transfer and expression, but also he is one of the leading analysts of the ethical issues in this field. He co-authored the 1980 New England Journal of Medicine paper that established the ethical requirements for human gene therapy, and has published a number of articles defining the ethics of human genetic engineering.

 

The Hastings Center, the country's leading bioethics institute, asked Anderson to present, at its 20th Anniversary Symposium, a talk on the ethics of genetic engineering.

 

Dr. Anderson has been a consultant on the subject of human gene therapy to several important government bodies such as: The Presidential Commission that produced Splicing Life; the Office of Technology Assessment Gene Therapy Committee; the President's Council; the Office of Science and Technology; the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering and Technology; as well as for academic bodies such as: the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In November 1982, the same month that Splicing Life was published,Dr. Anderson testified at then-Congressman Gore's Congressional Hearings, the first congressional hearings on human genetic engineering.

 

Dr. Anderson has given formal presentations on gene therapy to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering and Technology (FCCSET), the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) Staff, and to the Secretary of HHS and his Senior Staff. He has been a member of the Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and remains an ad hoc advisor; in addition, he served on the External Peer Review Committee, CBER, FDA. He is, or has been, on the Board of Directors of eight companies/ organizations, including the American Society of Gene Therapy. He is a Consultant with Genetic Therapy Inc/Novartis. In 1990, he was the founding editor of the leading gene therapy journal Human Gene Therapy, and he remains the Editor-in-Chief; in addition, he has been or is on the editorial board of ten other journals. He has been awarded three honorary degrees. Finally, he holds a number of significant patents in the area of human gene therapy.

 

For his work in pioneering gene therapy he has won many prestigious awards. Some of these include for 1996: Genesis Award; Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Tulsa; Humanitarian Award, National Organization of Rare Disorders (NORD); Tribute Symposium "In Utero Stem Cell Transplantation and Gene Therapy" in his honor; for 1997: Heroes of Medicine, Time magazine; for 1998: Masters of Medicine, CBS TV News; Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher of the Year, USC School of Medicine; Inductee, Oklahoma Hall of Fame; for 1999: President's Invited Lecture, Pacific Coast Surgical Association; for 2000: Special Lecture, American Association of Neurological Surgeons; Awardee, "Treasures of Los Angeles"; for 2001: Invited Lecture: "Repairing Broken Genes", The Smithsonian Institution; for 2002: Honorary Doctor of Science, Upstate Medical University, State University of New York.

 

 

Prof. W French Anderson has made many other contributions especially to the science of innovative biomedical research and is very deservinq of Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence.