Dr. George Daley serves as Dean of Harvard Medical School and holds the Caroline Shields Walker Professorship of Medicine, establishing himself as a globally recognized leader in molecular medicine and translational research. He maintains dual appointments as Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Pediatrics at Boston Children's Hospital, with extensive clinical affiliations at Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Dr. Daley earned his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1982, completed his PhD in biology at MIT in 1989 under Nobel laureate David Baltimore, and received his MD summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School in 1991, becoming only the tenth individual in the school's history to achieve this distinction. His clinical training encompassed internal medicine residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as Chief Resident from 1994-1995, followed by hematology/oncology fellowship at Brigham and Women's and Boston Children's Hospitals. Dr. Daley joined the Harvard Medical School faculty as an assistant professor in 1995 while conducting research as a Whitehead Fellow at the Whitehead Institute, steadily advancing to full professorship in 2010 and ultimately assuming the deanship of Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Daley's pioneering research has fundamentally transformed cancer therapeutics through his seminal demonstration that the BCR/ABL oncogene induces chronic myeloid leukemia in mouse models, providing critical target validation that directly catalyzed the development of imatinib (Gleevec), a revolutionary chemotherapeutic agent that has dramatically improved outcomes for CML patients worldwide. His laboratory has made numerous landmark contributions including the creation of customized stem cells to treat genetic immune deficiencies in mice, the differentiation of germ cells from embryonic stem cells, and the generation of disease-specific pluripotent stem cells through direct reprogramming of human skin and blood cells. Dr. Daley's investigations into mechanisms of Gleevec resistance have further informed the development of next-generation therapeutic agents including nilotinib, ponatinib, and asciminib, establishing him as a central figure in the evolution of targeted cancer therapies. His current research employs mouse and human disease models to unravel mechanisms underlying various cancers and blood disorders, with particular emphasis on somatic cell reprogramming and hematopoietic development.
As an influential leader in the scientific community, Dr. Daley served as president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research from 2007-2008 and has been instrumental in shaping national and international policies regarding stem cell research and regenerative medicine. He has trained dozens of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows throughout his distinguished career, receiving the Harvard Medical School A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award in 2012 for his exceptional commitment to education and scientific development. Dr. Daley's laboratory continues to focus on stem cell biology with particular emphasis on somatic cell reprogramming, hematopoietic differentiation from pluripotent stem cells, and shared mechanisms between reprogramming and cancer, seeking to develop blood lineages for research and clinical applications. His leadership as Dean of Harvard Medical School advances the institution's mission of alleviating human suffering through scientific discovery, education, and compassionate care, while his ongoing research promises to further bridge the gap between fundamental stem cell biology and clinical medicine.
