Bert Vogelstein

Bert Vogelstein is an American cancer geneticist born June 2, 1949, in Baltimore, Maryland, who directs the Ludwig Center at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. His research established that cancer arises from a sequence of mutations in specific oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes, including his discovery of the central role of the p53 tumor suppressor gene in human cancers and his identification of the APC gene responsible for familial adenomatous polyposis, and he pioneered liquid biopsy methods, including digital PCR and BEAMing, that detect cancer-associated mutations from blood samples. He received the Prince of Asturias Award in Science in 2004, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences in 2013, the Gruber Prize in Genetics in 2019, and the Japan Prize in 2021.