Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas

Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Ph.D., is our Chief Scientific Officer, having joined in March 2012. Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas is Professor of Cell Biology, Department of Cell Biology, is Director Emeritus and was the founding Director of the Developmental and Regenerative Biology Program at Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Biogen Idec, Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas had served as Professor, Collège de France, holding the Chair of Biology and Genetics of Development from 1999 to 2012; Founding Director of the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics at the Curie Institute in Paris from 2007 to 2009; and Professor, Department of Biology, Yale University; Professor, Department of Cell Biology, Yale University School of Medicine; and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 1981 to 1998. Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas obtained his M.A. in Chemistry from Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule, Zurich, and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Cambridge University at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. He did his Postdoctoral research at Biozentrum, University of Basel, and Stanford University, and was the Isselbacher Schwartz Professor, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, from 1999-2007. In addition to his academic credentials, Dr. Artavanis-Tsakonas is the scientific co-founder of Exelixis, Cellzome, and Anadys, and the philanthropic organization Fondation Santé.