ACGT® - Scientifc Advisory Council - George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D

Scientific Advisory Council

George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D
President, Regeneron Laboratories
& Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Tarrytown, NY

After graduating as valedictorian of both the Bronx High School of Science and Columbia College, Dr. Yancopoulos received his MD and PhD degrees in 1987 from Columbia University's College of Physicians & Surgeons. Following widely-recognized work in the field of molecular immunology at Columbia University with Dr. Fred Alt, for which he received the Lucille P. Markey Scholar Award, Dr. Yancopoulos left academia in 1989 as a founding scientist for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, where he is now the Chief Scientific Officer and President of Regeneron Laboratories. Dr. Yancopoulos is also an Adjunct Full Professor at Columbia University, and was recently awarded Columbia University's Stevens Triennial Prize for Research and its University Medal of Excellence for Distinguished Achievement.

Dr. Yancopoulos' scientific contributions were recently recognized by his election in 2004 to both the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Sciences. Dr. Yancopoulos' scientific efforts have focused on the discovery and characterization of novel families of "growth factors" and their receptors. He has also worked to define the molecular pathways activated by these growth factors. Dr. Yancopoulos' diverse work has led to unifying models of molecular and biologic function, as well as to new approaches for treating human disease, and is enabled by his development of breakthrough technologies.

Most recently, his group has developed the VelociGene and VelociMouse technologies, which allows for the rapid generation of almost any genetic change or humanization in mice, allowing for the creation of new models of disease and gene function in the mouse. These technologies have culminated in the development of the VelocImmune mouse, in which the mouse's immune system has been genetically humanized by replacing more than 6 megabases of the mouse genome by its human immune gene counterparts, providing a new platform for the efficient production of fully human antibodies.

Many of the discoveries of Dr. Yancopoulos and his group have resulted in therapeutic candidates now in clinical trials, such as the VEGF Trap for cancer and blinding eye diseases including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and the IL1-Trap for inflammatory diseases.

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