J. Michael Bishop

J. Michael Bishop, working with Harold Varmus, made the transformative discovery that the cancer-causing src gene in Rous sarcoma virus is derived from a normal cellular gene (proto-oncogene), demonstrating for the first time that cancer arises from the abnormal activation of genes normally present in healthy cells. This Nobel Prize-winning discovery unified cancer biology and provided the molecular framework for targeting oncoproteins with small molecule inhibitors. He served as Chancellor of UCSF and has been a champion of basic science research as the foundation for cancer therapy.