Phillip A. Sharp received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Much of Sharp’s scientific work has been conducted at MIT’s Center for Cancer Research, which he joined in 1974 and directed from 1985 to 1991. He subsequently led the Department of Biology from 1991 to 1999. Sharp is co-founder of Biogen, Inc and also co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.

He earned a B.A. from Union College, KY, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1969.

Sharp has authored more than 300 scientific papers and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In 2006, he received the National Medal of Science.