Tyler Jacks

David H. Koch (1962) Professor of Biology, Daniel K. Ludwig Scholar, Co-director, Ludwig Center at MIT
Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT

Professor Jacks received his bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard College, and his doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco, where he trained with Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus. Following a post­doctoral fellowship with Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute, he joined the MIT faculty in 1992. From 2001-2021, Professor Jacks served as director of the MIT Center for Cancer Research and its successor, the Koch Institute. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 1994-2021 before stepping down to take on his current role as President of the Break Through Cancer Foundation. Jacks received the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Outstanding Achievement Award, the AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship, the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Amgen Award, MIT’s Killian Award, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, and the Sergio Lombroso Award in Cancer Research. Jacks was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Fellows of the AACR Academy. He served as Chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board at the National Cancer Institute, was a member of the AACR Board of Directors, and was elected president of the AACR in 2009. Jacks is a member of the Board of Directors of Amgen and Thermo Fisher Scientific. He is a co-Founder of Dragonfly Therapeutics and T2 Biosystems. Professor Jacks serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Dragonfly Therapeutics, SQZ Biotech, and Skyhawk Therapeutics. He is the President of Break Through Cancer.