Gregg Semenza

Johns Hopkins University

Gregg L. Semenza is the C. Michael Armstrong Professor of Genetic Medicine, Pediatrics, Oncology, Medicine, Radiation Oncology and Biological Chemistry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he directs the Vascular Program at the Institute for Cell Engineering. He is best known for discovering hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1), the master transcription factor through which mammalian cells sense and adapt to low oxygen by switching on genes for erythropoietin, angiogenesis and glucose metabolism. For elucidating how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability he shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with William Kaelin and Peter Ratcliffe, and he had earlier shared the 2016 Lasker Basic Medical Research Award with them. His work on HIF-1 in tumor angiogenesis and metastasis seeded a large class of HIF-targeted drugs, including prolyl-hydroxylase inhibitors for renal anemia; he co-founded HIF Therapeutics, Inc. and advises Catalio Capital, and his HIF-1 patent estate is actively licensed through Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures. These translational ties make his lab a strong commercial counterpart for vendors of hypoxia chambers, transcription-factor assays and oncology screening reagents.