Richard A. Young is a pioneer in gene transcription, the process by which cells read and interpret the genetic instructions embedded in DNA. His lab’s achievements include novel AIDS vaccine candidates and new approaches to drug-resistant tuberculosis.

Young received his Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1979. He has been director of the National Cooperative Vaccine Development Group for AIDS at the Whitehead Institute and has served on several international committees for the World Health Organization. He received the Burroughs Wellcome Scholar Award in 1987 and the Chiron Corporation Biotechnology Research Award from the American Society for Microbiology in 1994. Young was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 1994, and a charter fellow of the Molecular Medicine Society in 1995.