Dr. Howard Chang is a distinguished physician-scientist currently serving as Senior Vice President of Global Research and Chief Scientific Officer at Amgen where he leads all aspects of discovery research. Previously he held the prestigious position of Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Cancer Research and Director of the Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes at Stanford University School of Medicine where he was also Professor of Dermatology and Genetics and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Chang earned his Ph.D. in Biology from MIT and his M.D. from Harvard Medical School followed by Dermatology residency and postdoctoral training at Stanford University. His exceptional career trajectory began with an early passion for laboratory research during undergraduate studies at Harvard where he worked with renowned biochemist Christopher Walsh and continued through his transformative work in David Baltimore's laboratory at MIT investigating mechanisms of programmed cell death.
Dr. Chang pioneered the field of long noncoding RNAs discovering this new class of genes that can control gene activity throughout the genome and revealing a fundamental layer of biological regulation previously unrecognized in molecular biology. His groundbreaking research which was honored by the journal Cell as a Landmark paper over the last 40 years and by Science as an Insight of the decade has revolutionized our understanding of how large sets of genes are coordinately turned on or off during normal development cancer and aging processes. In addition to his conceptual breakthroughs Dr. Chang invented ATAC-seq and other innovative genomic methods for defining DNA regulatory elements both genome-wide and at single-cell resolution providing the scientific community with powerful tools to explore the noncoding genome. These transformative contributions have earned him numerous accolades including the NAS Award for Molecular Biology the 2024 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, which he shared with Adrian R. Krainer and Lynne E. Maquat and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research.
As a leader in genomic medicine Dr. Chang has profoundly influenced the trajectory of biomedical research through his mentorship of dozens of scientists and his establishment of major research initiatives including the Center for Personal Dynamic Regulomes and the NIH Center of Excellence in Genomic Science. His work continues to catalyze new approaches to disease diagnosis and therapy with the ultimate goal of deciphering the regulatory information in the human genome to benefit human health through precision medicine applications. Currently directing Amgen's global research strategy Dr. Chang bridges advanced genomic discoveries with therapeutic development positioning the company at the forefront of translating genomic insights into medicines that change lives. His ongoing commitment to understanding the fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation promises to yield further innovations in cancer treatment aging interventions and personalized therapeutic approaches that will shape the future of medicine.
