 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Michael R. Hayden | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Harvard University University of Cape Town |
| Awards | Dr. Don Rix Lifetime Achievement Award (2025) Doctor of Science(DSc(Med)) (honoris causa), University of Cape Town (2024) Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) Humanitarian Award (2020) Inductee,Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (2017) Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award (2011) Order of Canada (2010) Order of British Columbia (2009) Canada's Health Researcher of the Year - Biomedical and Clinical Research, Canadian Institutes for Health ResearchCIHR (2008) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medical genetics,human genetics,personalized medicine |
| Institutions | Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics, Child & Family Research Institute,University of British Columbia British Columbia's Children's Hospital British Columbia's Children's Hospital Provincial Health Services Authority |
Michael R. Hayden,CM OBC FRSC[1] is aKillam Professor ofMedical Genetics at theUniversity of British Columbia, the highest honour UBC can confer on any faculty member.[citation needed] Only four such awards have ever been conferred in the Faculty of Medicine.[citation needed] Hayden is best known for his research inHuntington disease (HD).
He is a founder, senior scientist and former director of theCentre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; a genetic research centre within UBC's Faculty of Medicine and affiliated with the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute and theBC Children's Hospital Foundation. He was alsoCanada Research Chair inHuman Genetics andMolecular Medicine from 2000-2021 and the Program Director of the Translational Laboratory in Genetic Medicine in Singapore from 2011 to 2020. Dr. Hayden was appointed as the President of Global R&D and Chief Scientific Officer atTeva Pharmaceutical Industries from 2012 to 2017.[2][3] During this time, he led approximately 35 new generic and specialty products to approval in major markets with many for diseases of thecentral nervous system. He ledAustedo forchorea in HD, the second drug ever to be approved for HD andAjovy, a CGRP antagonist for migraines to approval. In 2015, Teva R&D was recognized as one of the 10 most exciting innovators in Pharma by IDEA Pharma and in 2017, Teva R&D ranked top of the industry for CNS development and clinical trial success by Pharma Intelligence.
Hayden is the most cited author in the world for Huntington disease andABCA1, and has authored over 950 publications and invited submissions (Google Scholar citations 110,999,h-index 169,i10-index 795;[4] Web of Science citations 71,448,h-index 120).
Dr. Hayden is the recipient of numerous prestigious honours and awards. Most recently, he was awarded the 2025 Dr. Don Rix Lifetime Achievement Award,[citation needed] Life Sciences BC and the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award by the Huntington Study Group, USA. He was awarded honorary degrees from: University of Cape Town (2024), University of Gottingen (2014), and University of Alberta (2009). Dr. Hayden was named one of PharmaVoice's "100 of the Most Inspiring People" in 2015 and for the second time in 2022. Dr. Hayden was awarded the David Dubinsky Humanitarian Award from the American Friends of Soroka Medical Center (AFSMC) (2020). He was inducted into theCanadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2017.[5] Hayden received the CanadaGairdner Foundation Wightman Award[6] in 2011, recognizing him as a physician-scientist who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science. In 2010, he was awarded Member of theOrder of Canada,[7] following his receipt of theOrder of British Columbia in 2009. In 2008, Dr. Hayden received recognition from theCanadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as Canada's Health Researcher of the Year: CIHR Michael Smith Prizes in Health Research.[8] and in 2007, he received the Prix Galien which recognizes the outstanding contribution of a researcher to Canadian pharmaceutical research.
In addition to his academic work, Hayden is the co-founder of five biotechnology companies including: Prilenia, NeuroVir Therapeutics Inc., Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aspreva Pharmaceuticals Corp and 89Bio and the CEO of Prilenia Therapeutics. He currently sits on different public and private boards of biotechnologies companies.
Dr. Hayden is committed to empowering others. In addition to mentoring over 100 graduate students and postdocs, he is also a TED mentor.
Hayden was born inCape Town,South Africa, one of Ann Platt's and Roger Hayden's two sons. His paternal grandfather,Max Raphael Hahn was an entrepreneur, art collector and chairman of the Jewish community inGöttingen,Germany. His grandfather and grandmother were murdered during the Holocaust. His father, originally named Rudolf (Rudi) Hahn, fled to London in 1939, enlisted in the British army and fought during World War II, and eventually settled in South Africa in 1947.[9][10] After the divorce of his parents, when he was six, Hayden was raised by his single mother.[1] In 1975, he graduated from theUniversity of Cape Town as the top graduate in medicine, where he also received his PhD in Genetics (1979). He completed a post-doctoral fellowship and further training in Internal Medicine atHarvard Medical School. Michael is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Clinical Genetics. He moved to Canada and joined theUniversity of British Columbia (UBC) in 1983 from the Children's Hospital in Boston, a teaching arm of Harvard Medical School.[citation needed]
He is married and has four children and eight grandchildren.
Hayden's research focus is primarily on genetic diseases, including genetics oflipoprotein disorders,Huntington disease, predictive medicine,personalized medicine and drug development. Along with his research team, Hayden has identified 10 disease-causing genes, which includes the identification of the major gene underlying high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in humans. This gene, known asABCA1, has major implications foratherosclerosis anddiabetes. Hayden also identified the first mutations underlyingLipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPL) and developedgene therapy approaches to treat this condition, the first approved gene therapy in the western world. He was also co-leader of the Canadian Pharmacogenomics Network for Drug Safety project (2006-2012), a BC-led Genome Canada-funded, national strategy to prevent adverse drug reactions.[citation needed]
Since 2010:
In 2002, Hayden was part of the cast of the documentary Chasing the Cure which discussed treatments for widespread killer-heart disease, cancer, and bacterial poisoning and how research findings will change the face of medicine in the next 20 years.[24]
Hayden appears in the 2012 documentary movieDo You Really Want to Know? directed byJohn Zaritsky. In the film, Hayden describes his professional relationship and friendship with Huntington's disease family member and researcherJeff Carroll and the process of guiding Carroll and his five siblings throughgenetic testing for the mutation that causes Huntington's.[25]
Hayden is also a subject in the 2013 documentary, "Alive & Well", directed byJosh Taft. In the film, he discusses his mission to find a cure forHuntington's disease.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| People | |
| Other | |
