Joe-Gray-webexWhen we published this story about Joe Gray ’68 in 2010, he was director of the Life Science Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he and a team of scientists were conducting groundbreaking cancer research. He’s now the Gordon Moore Endowed Chair at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, where he moved with the majority of his lab personnel in early 2012.

Gray says the idea of moving to Oregon first came up during a conversation he had with Dr. Brian J. Druker, director of the Knight Cancer Center at Oregon Health Sciences University. Druker, widely known for developing the treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia, was inspired by Gray’s vision and made the move possible, in part thanks to the $100 million that had recently been committed to the cancer center by Nike founder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny.

Gray is now well-established in Portland, and the direction of his research is more ambitious than ever. He outlines the direction of this work in this video.

Read about Gray�s Midyear Degree Convocation address or watch the ceremony.