Speaker Gregg Semenza is a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine professor of pediatrics, radiation oncology, medicine, and biological chemistry. Dr. Semenza is also the vascular program director at the Institute for Cell Engineering. He shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir Peter John Ratcliffe and William Kaelin Jr.

Above all, Dr. Semenza is one of the world’s leading experts on the molecular processes of oxygen regulation. He has pioneered the field’s understanding of how cells adapt to changes in oxygen levels. Additionally, he made the major discovery of the HIF-1 protein, which regulates genes in response to oxygen supply fluctuations. This study has far-reaching implications for diagnosing and addressing disorders of poor oxygen health, including tumor development and coronary artery disease.

Dr. Semenza graduated with honors from Harvard University with an A.B. Moreover, he earned a doctorate in medicine and science at the University of Pennsylvania. Later, he completed a pediatric residency at Duke University Medical Center. Additionally, he did postdoctoral research in medical genetics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Semenza became a professor of the Johns Hopkins University faculty in 1990.

He was the fellow founder of the American College of Medical Genetics. Currently, he serves on the editorial board of numerous journals, such as Cellular, Molecular and Cancer Research.

In 2012, speaker Gregg Semenza was appointed to the Institute of Medicine. Throughout his career, he has received a variety of awards, including those received due to his extensive research in pediatrics, and biomedical science.

Dr. Semenza received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019. In 2020, the American Heart Association rewarded Gregg Semenza with the AHA Distinguished Scientist Award.