The 2021 Gruber Genetics Prize recognizes hematologist-oncologist and geneticist Stuart H. Orkin, M.D., of Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, for his pioneering discoveries of the genetic underpinnings of blood disorders. His remarkable body of work has not only revolutionized our understanding of how these illnesses occur but has also led to promising new gene-based therapies for thalassemia and sickle cell disease, two inherited blood disorders that affect millions of people around the world. Dr. Orkin is the David G. Nathan Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
