Marc Tessier-Lavigne
Canadian neuroscientist (born 1959)
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Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne (born December 18, 1959) is a Canadian-American neuroscientist who is co-founder, CEO, and chair of the AI biotech firm Xaira Therapeutics. He is also a biology professor at Stanford University,[1] where he served as its 11th president from 2016 to 2023. Tessier-Lavigne was the 10th president of Rockefeller University in New York City from 2011 to 2016, and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
Marc Tessier-Lavigne | |
|---|---|
Tessier-Lavigne in 2013 | |
| 11th President of Stanford University | |
| In office September 1, 2016 – August 31, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | John L. Hennessy |
| Succeeded by | Richard Saller |
| 10th President of Rockefeller University | |
| In office March 16, 2011 – September 1, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Nurse |
| Succeeded by | Richard P. Lifton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne December 18, 1959 |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | McGill University (BS) New College, Oxford (BA) University College London (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Awards | Gruber Prize in Neuroscience 2020 |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | University of California, San Francisco Genentech Rockefeller University Stanford University |
| Thesis | Processing of Signals and Noise in the Outer Retina of the Salamander (1987) |
| David Attwell | |
Other academic advisors | Thomas Jessell |
Tessier-Lavigne was formerly executive vice president for research and the chief scientific officer at Genentech.[2] In 2011, he joined the boards of directors of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. In 2014, he joined the board of Juno Therapeutics, and in 2015 he co-founded Denali Therapeutics and joined its board.[3][4][5][6][7]
In 2022, the Stanford board of trustees opened an investigation into allegations that Tessier-Lavigne might have been involved in fabricating results in articles published between 2001 and 2008, while he was working at Genentech.[8][9][10] He was cleared of scientific fraud and misconduct in July 2023, when the trustees' report was released, then announced that he would step down as president of Stanford, effective August 31, 2023.[1] He is known for landmark research into the mechanisms of brain wiring during embryonic development.
Early life and education
Tessier-Lavigne was born in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Aged seven to 17, he grew up in Europe where his father was serving with NATO as part of the Canadian Armed Forces.[11] He was the first in his family to attend university.[12]
In 1980, Tessier-Lavigne majored in physics from McGill University; in 1982, he took a BA in philosophy and physiology from New College, Oxford; in 1987, he gained a DPhil in physiology from University College London.[13]
Tessier-Lavigne attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he "first encountered the nervous system and fell in love with it" and graduated with first-class honors.[2][14][13] His doctoral advisor at University College London was David Attwell. Tessier-Lavigne did postdoctoral research at the MRC Developmental Neurobiology Unit at University College London in 1987 and at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University with Thomas Jessell from 1987 to 1991.[15][13]
Career
Early career: UCSF, Stanford and Genentech
Tessier-Lavigne started his career at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1991 to 2001, and was soon noted for research into the mechanisms of brain wiring during embryonic development.[16] He was a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University from 2001 to 2003.[17] Genentech hired him in 2003 as its senior vice president of Research Drug Discovery. He cited the firm's "potential to create breakthrough therapies for unmet medical needs" as his reason for leaving academia.[2][18] His research on the development of the brain also uncovered details of how Alzheimer's disease is triggered.[2][19]
Rockefeller University
In 2011 Tessier-Lavigne joined Rockefeller University as its 10th president, succeeding Paul Nurse, who returned to Britain to take over as president of the Royal Society.[2] Rockefeller University called Tessier-Lavigne, who supervised a team of 1,400 researchers, the "Board's unanimous first choice for the position".[14] He was the first high-ranking science employee to leave Genentech after it was acquired by Roche in 2009. Tessier-Lavigne's departure from Genentech raised concerns that the company—which The New York Times called "among the most innovative and successful biotechnology companies in the world"—would see a negative effect on its scientific culture. Tessier-Lavigne said his departure was unrelated to the Roche merger and that "this is probably the only job that could have lured me away from Genentech". Rockefeller University board of trustees chair Russell L. Carson said he had "literally called him cold" to offer him the position and that Tessier-Lavigne had the strong scientific background needed to oversee the university's 70 independent laboratories, whose heads report directly to the president. Richard Scheller, Tessier-Lavigne's superior, called the move "part of the tradition of exchange between academia and Genentech."[2] While it was too early to discuss specific goals, Tessier-Lavigne said he hoped to work on transforming basic science into treatments for disease.[2]
Tessier-Lavigne was a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company Xconomy.[20]
Stanford University
On February 4, 2016, Stanford University announced that Tessier-Lavigne would become its 11th president, succeeding John L. Hennessy.[21] As president, Tessier-Lavigne presided over the opening of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford's first new school since 1948.[22] In 2020, he was recognized as among "pioneers in elucidating the molecular mechanisms that guide axons to their targets, a key step in the formation of neural circuits", and awarded the Gruber Prize in Neuroscience.[23] That November, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of that nation's highest honors, "for his groundbreaking contributions to developmental neuroscience, and his renowned academic leadership and strong advocacy of science."[24]
Research investigation and resignation
In November 2022, Stanford announced that its Board of Trustees would oversee an examination of Tessier-Lavigne's publications, after it was alleged that neurobiology papers he had co-authored contained altered images. Scientific integrity consultant Elisabeth Bik raised concerns about four papers (in such journals as Science and Nature) co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne, findings confirmed by The Stanford Daily.[9][25][26] It also came to light that Tessier-Lavigne had notified the journal Science after he was initially informed about the errors in 2015; its editor-in-chief admitted that, due to an internal error, it had failed to publish the corrections for two papers.[10][27] In February 2023, Tessier-Lavigne declared allegations that he had intentionally falsified his work "utterly false".[28]
On July 19, 2023, the review committee released its report, which concluded that the claims were "mistaken", though it criticized the standard of scientific rigor employed in one named paper.[29] The committee found that "in at least four of the five papers, there was apparent manipulation of research data by others",[30][31] and that there was "no evidence that Tessier-Lavigne himself manipulated data... nor that he knew about manipulation at the time". Tessier-Lavigne then announced his resignation as president, effective August 31, 2023, as well as his retraction or correction of five scientific papers,[29] saying that, though the report refuted allegations of fraud and misconduct against him, he would step down "for the good of the University" amid the immediate debate.[1][29]
Xaira Therapeutics
On April 23, 2024, it was announced that Tessier-Lavigne would become CEO of the AI biotech drug discovery startup Xaira Therapeutics,[32][33] of which he is a co-founder and chairman.[34]
Honours
- Honorary doctorate, University of Pavia, 2006[35]
- Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, elected 2013[36]
- Elected to the American Philosophical Society, 2017[37]
- Appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, 2020[24]
- Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine[38]
- Member of the Council on Foreign Relations[39]
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
- Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences in the United Kingdom
- Honorary doctorate, University College London, 2014[40]
- Honorary fellow of New College, Oxford[14]
- The Carnegie Corporation of New York honored Tessier-Lavigne with 2019 Great Immigrant Award.[41]
- International fellow at the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) in 2020.
- Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2022[42]
- Gruber Prize in Neuroscience in 2020[23]
Personal life
Tessier-Lavigne met his wife, Mary Hynes, while he was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. They have three children.[3]