In July 2023, we changed our name from AACC (short for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry) to the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM). The following page was written prior to this rebranding and contains mentions of the association’s old name. It may contain other out-of-date information as well.
1994 AACC Lectureship Award
Leroy E. Hood will receive this year’s award, sponsored by Miles Inc. Diagnostic Division.
Hood holds a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, an M.D. from the Johns Hopkins Medical School, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Caltech. He taught at Caltech from 1970 to 1992, and became the Bowles Professor of Biology, Chairman of the Biology Division, and Director of the Career Center.
Hood is now the William Gates III Professor of Molecular Biotechnology, and Chairman of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology, at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle. He is also Director of the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Center for Molecular Biotechnology and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His research interests include molecular immunology, with a focus on autoimmune diseases, and the development of automated methods for DNA sequencing and for synthesizing genes and peptide fragments. His laboratory has played a major role in developing microchemical instrumentation for the large-scale analysis of DNA and proteins and, for the Human Genome Project, in applying this technology to mapping and sequencing the human and mouse T-cell receptor loci.
Hood received the Ricketts Medal in 1980 from the University of Chicago for outstanding contributions to biomedical research, the 3M Life Sciences Award in 1984 for significant contributions to the health and welfare of mankind, and the California Scientist of the Year Award in 1985. In 1987 he was given the Louis Pasteur Award for Medical Innovation, the ARCS Foundation Man of Science Award for deciphering the message of DNA, the Dickson Prize in Medicine for contributions to immunology and molecular biology, and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for studies of immune diversity. In 1989 Hood was awarded the Commonwealth Award of Distinguished Service for work in developing instruments used to study modern biology and medicine and the Cetus Award for Biotechnology. Hood received the American College of Physicians Award in 1990 for distinguished contributions in science as related to medicine. He is coauthor of Biochemistry: A Problems Approach; Molecular Biology of Eucaryotic Cells; Immunology (two editions); and Essential Concepts in Immunology; and coeditor of Code of Codes: Scientific and Social Issues in the Human Genome Project. He has authored more than 430 articles, and currently serves on the editorial boards of Biological Regulation and Control; Journal of Molecular Evolution; Proteins: Structure, Function and Genetics; Genomics; BioTechniques; Current Opinion in Biotechnology, and Human Mutation.