Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., is a Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, renowned for his groundbreaking discovery of the p53 tumor suppressor protein, a critical molecule in cancer prevention. Dr. Levine earned his Bachelor of Arts in biology from Harpur College, SUNY, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Robert Sinsheimer.
In 1968, Dr. Levine began his academic career as an assistant professor at Princeton University, becoming a professor of biochemistry in 1976. In 1979, he joined the SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine as chair of the Department of Microbiology. That same year, Dr. Levine and his team made the pivotal discovery of the p53 protein. He returned to Princeton in 1984, where he presided over a significant expansion of the university’s life sciences programs as chairman of the Department of Molecular Biology from 1984 to 1996. From 1998 to 2002, he served as president of The Rockefeller University.
Dr. Levine established the Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute for Advanced Study, focusing on research at the intersection of molecular biology and the physical sciences. He has made substantial contributions to shaping U.S. science priorities, including serving as chairman of a 1996 federal AIDS research funding review panel and chairing the National Cancer Advisory Board, which advises the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine on cancer policy.
Dr. Levine’s work has been recognized with numerous accolades. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and to its Institute of Medicine in 1995. In 2001, he received the inaugural Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the largest annual prize in medicine and science in the United States.
Dr. Levine’s research has demonstrated that the p53 pathway plays a central role in cancer prevention and that genetic variations in the pathway impact individual responses to environmental mutagens, cancer onset, treatment outcomes, and survival. His work has provided critical insights into the genetic origins of cancer and laid the groundwork for rational drug discovery to improve cancer therapies.
