Dr. Larry Corey to step down as President and Director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center - Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

SEATTLE – May 8, 2014 – Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center today announced that Dr. Larry Corey will step down as President and Director to return to his passion and focus on research. Corey will turn his attention from scientific administration back to his longstanding research focus to develop vaccines for HIV and herpes viruses. He will remain at Fred Hutch as a member of the faculty in the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division and will hold the title of President and Director Emeritus. His resignation will be effective June 30. Fred Hutch Deputy Director Dr. Mark Groudine will serve as Interim President and Director and the Fred Hutch Board of Trustees will immediately begin a national search for Corey’s successor.

 “It is a privilege to have served as President and Director of The Hutch and I am proud that I have accomplished the strategic goals I set when I took the job,” Corey said. “We have deepened our scientific leadership across all areas, improved our financial condition, commercialized important technology, and most importantly, have made significant scientific breakthroughs in the areas of immunotherapy and genomics. Our philanthropic efforts have reached all-time highs with the recent $20 million gift from the Bezos family – a symbol of the ties we have made to our supporters over the past few years. I am proud of bringing the Center to such a successful spot, and because of that I feel I can look forward to returning to my laboratory and my research since I have always been, first and foremost, a scientist and researcher and have missed not being fully dedicated to those pursuits,” Corey said.

“Larry has made major strategic strides as our President and Director,” said Paula Reynolds, Board of Trustees Chair. “He has been a dynamic leader who has continued in the great scientific tradition of this institution and has expanded our footprint nationally and globally. During his tenure, he has tirelessly supported Fred Hutch’s mission to eliminate cancer as a cause of human suffering and death. We are extremely pleased that Larry will continue his research as a member of our faculty and be available to advise the Board of Trustees on key initiatives.”

Corey became president and director on Jan. 1, 2011. He is internationally known for his work in medical virology, especially viral infections associated with Cancer. He founded and continues to direct the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), the international collaboration of scientists devoted to developing a globally effective HIV vaccine. He is also known for spearheading the Fred Hutch’s programs in preventing and treating cancers in the developing world.

Most recently, Larry helped establish Juno Therapeutics, Inc., a new biotechnology company focused on bringing forward novel immunotherapies for cancer. Juno's approach focuses on harnessing the power of the immune system through the reprogramming of a type of immune cell called T lymphocytes ("T cells"). T cells are part of the body's natural protective defense system against infection, and Juno's technology reprograms T cells to recognize cancer cells for a precision immunologic attack. Corey will continue to serve as a senior adviser to Juno.

“The Hutch’s loss of Larry as President and Director is a major gain for the field of HIV vaccine research,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. government agency that funds the HIV Vaccine Trials Network. “Dr. Corey is an extraordinary thought leader and practicing physician-scientist in this area and we welcome him back on a full-time basis to this critical area of biomedical research and global health.”

Besides his leadership role, Corey is recognized as one of the most highly cited and funded investigators in the United States. Corey earned his bachelor's and medical degrees from the University of Michigan and in 1999 received the U-M Medical School's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He received his infectious diseases training at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he joined the faculty in 1978; he holds the Lawrence Corey Endowed Chair in Medical Virology. He moved his laboratory to Fred Hutch in 1996. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 and was one of three Seattleites elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012, along with Jeff Bezos and Melinda Gates.