Judith Gasson, PhD, earned her doctorate degree in physiology at the University of Colorado in 1979. She did her postdoctoral work at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, CA, studying glucocorticoid hormones, which are made by the adrenal gland in response to stress. In 1983, she left the Salk Institute to join UCLA.
At UCLA, Gasson was instrumental in purifying for the first time a human hormone-like substance that increases the speed of bone marrow cell reproduction and activation of myeloid cells. That substance, called GM-CSF, has been used to help prevent infections and speed recovery in cancer and stem cell transplant patients.
From 1995 to 2015, Dr. Gasson was the director of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), among the nation’s top 10, according to U.S. News & World Report. Under her leadership, the JCCC became a recognized international pioneer in “translating” laboratory discoveries into more effective new therapies for cancer patients everywhere. She also served as the President of the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation and the Founding Co-Director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center (2005 to 2012). From 2012 to 2015, she was the Senior Associate Dean for Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
In 2020, she was awarded the American Society of Hematology Mentor Award. She is currently the Professor (Medicine Hem-Onc) and Director (Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center) Emerita and Senior Advisor for Research and Innovation in the David Geffen School of Medicine.