Philip Sharp, PhD

Phillip A. Sharp is an Institute Professor emeritus at MIT and member of the Department of Biology and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. His research interests have centered on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His work in 1977 provided the first indications of “discontinuous genes” in mammalian cells. This discovery fundamentally changed scientists’ understanding of gene structure and earned him the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. A native of Kentucky, Dr. Sharp earned a B.A. degree from Union College, Barbourville, KY, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Dr. Sharp was a co-founder of Biogen (1978) and served as chair of its Scientific Advisory Board and member of the Board of Directors. He co-founded Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (2002) and serves as chair of its Scientific Advisory Board and member of the Board of Directors.