Edison T. Liu is an American chemist who is the former president and CEO of The Jackson Laboratory, and the former director of its NCI-designated Cancer Center (2012-2021). Before joining The Jackson Laboratory, he was the founding executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) (an A*STAR institute), chairman of the board of the Health Sciences Authority, and president of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO) (2007-2013). As the executive director of the GIS, he brought the institution to international prominence as one of the most productive genomics institutions in the world.
Between 1997 and 2001, he was the scientific director of the National Cancer Institute's Division of Clinical Sciences where he was in charge of the intramural clinical translational science programs. From 1987 to 1996, Liu was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was the director of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center's Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer; the director of the Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology at UNC School of Public Health; chief of Medical Genetics; and the chair of the Correlative Science Committee of the national cooperative clinical trials group, CALGB.
Liu's scientific research has focused on the functional genomics of human cancers, particularly breast cancer (identifying the tandem duplicator phenotype genomic configuration[1]), discovering new oncogenes (AXL family of receptor tyrosine kinases[2]), and deciphering the dynamics of gene regulation on a genomic scale that modulates cancer biology.[3] His work has spanned basic to population sciences to translation to the clinic. He has authored over 320 scientific papers and reviews, and co-authored two books.
In his spare time, Liu[4] pursues jazz piano and composition, and writes for the lay public on science, medicine and society.
2003
Public Service Medal (National Day, 2003), for work in controlling SARS in Singapore (given by the Office of the President, Republic of Singapore)
2000
Rosenthal Award, AACR: for the discovery that HER-2 status determines response to adjuvant chemotherapy with doxorubicin