{"id":52661,"date":"2025-02-13T09:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T17:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&p=52661"},"modified":"2025-02-13T08:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T16:57:09","slug":"celebrating-50-years-of-discovery-professor-tony-hunters-half-century-legacy-at-the-salk-institute","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/celebrating-50-years-of-discovery-professor-tony-hunters-half-century-legacy-at-the-salk-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating 50 years of discovery: Professor Tony Hunter\u2019s half-century legacy at the Salk Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA JOLLA\u2014The Salk Institute is proud to celebrate Professor Tony Hunter\u2019s<\/a> 50 years as a cancer biology pioneer whose fundamental discoveries have inspired the development of more than 80 cancer drugs. Since joining the Institute\u2019s faculty in February 1975, Hunter has been a cornerstone of the Salk community, contributing to transformational discoveries and mentoring more than 100 trainees, many of whom have also become scientific leaders.<\/p>\n

To honor Hunter and his extraordinary career, Salk is holding a special symposium titled \u201c50 Years of Rafting the River of Life<\/a>\u201d on February 21. Hunter\u2019s lab alumni, colleagues, and other cancer research luminaries will share their science, memories, and tributes.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony Hunter is a towering figure in the world of science,\u201d says Salk President Gerald Joyce<\/a>. \u201cHis discoveries have not only transformed our understanding of cancer biology but have also directly led to therapies that have saved countless lives. His dedication, collaborative spirit, and scientific brilliance have left an indelible mark on the Salk Institute and the global scientific community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/a>
Left: Tony Hunter shortly before moving from England back to the US in 1975. Right: Hunter at the Salk Institute in 2025, wearing a T-shirt with Jonas Salk\u2019s famous quote \u201cOur greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.\u201d
Click here<\/a> for a high-resolution image.
Credit: Salk Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hunter\u2019s connection to the Salk Institute began in 1971, when he arrived as a postdoctoral trainee from the University of Cambridge, where he had been an undergraduate and obtained his PhD. He immersed himself in Salk\u2019s collaborative culture, forming lifelong connections with colleagues and embracing the Southern California lifestyle and hairstyle. He recalls working hard and playing hard\u2014spending long hours in the lab but also taking time for adventurous outings with fellow postdocs, such as desert camping and river rafting, a hobby he continues to enjoy at the age of 81.<\/p>\n

After two years as a postdoctoral researcher at Salk, Hunter returned to the University of Cambridge in his native England, where he assumed he\u2019d find a permanent job and settle down. But, after a rocky year that included his lab burning down, living with friends, and no job prospects, he returned to Salk, where he joined the faculty as an assistant professor and started his lab in February 1975.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came back to Salk, I didn\u2019t have long-term plans or a clear vision for my career,\u201d Hunter says. \u201cI never imagined I\u2019d still be here 50 years later, but I\u2019m happy with how things worked out. The collaborative and innovative spirit of the Institute keeps me inspired.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1979, while studying tumor viruses in his Salk lab, Hunter made a serendipitous discovery<\/a> that quickly became a landmark in cancer biology: tyrosine phosphorylation, a molecular switch that controls cell growth and division. Hunter\u2019s research later revealed how certain tyrosine kinases, the enzymes that drive this switch, become overactive in cancers, spurring uncontrolled cell proliferation.<\/p>\n

Hunter\u2019s discovery inspired the development of more than 80 cancer drugs that inhibit tyrosine kinases, offering hope to millions of patients worldwide. One of the most transformative drugs in this class is imatinib, commonly known as Gleevec. By targeting an aberrant tyrosine kinase, Gleevec has transformed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition.<\/p>\n

Over the decades, Hunter\u2019s research has spanned a remarkable breadth of scientific areas, from DNA tumor viruses to protein phosphorylation to pancreatic cancer and beyond. Last month, he published a new paper<\/a> in Cancer Discovery<\/em> that builds on several decades of research in the Hunter lab. In 1996, the team discovered a protein called PIN1, and now the team has uncovered how it drives bladder cancer formation by increasing cholesterol production. Hunter and team are now exploring drug combinations that can target PIN1 and reduce cholesterol to block bladder tumor growth.<\/p>\n

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