Merck Hires Harvard Prof.

After 20 years at Harvard Medical School, Professor D. Gary Gilliland will depart to lead cancer research at the pharmaceutical giant, Merck & Co., the company announced earlier this week.

While at Harvard, Gilliland gained international recognition for discovering the genetic basis of leukemia and served as director of both the Leukemia Program at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Cancer Stem Cell Program for the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

Gilliland’s latest work harnessed his earlier findings to explore how drugs could be used to treat leukemia.

“His expertise in both basic and translational research will enhance Merck’s efforts to develop innovative and individualized medicines to treat this devastating disease,” said Merck President Peter S. Kim in a statement.

Colleagues praised Gilliland’s contributions to oncology at Harvard, and said yesterday that his leadership and mentorship would be missed.

“He was very knowledgeable, a great collaborator, and a great friend, and hopefully still will be,” said Leonard I. Zon, an HMS hematologist and oncologist who collaborated with Gilliland through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

David Scadden, the director of the Stem Cell Institute, yesterday praised Gilliland as “one of the leading lights in academic medicine.”

“He made critical discoveries about the genetics of leukemia and changed the way we think about that disease,” Scadden wrote in an e-mailed statement. “But of equal importance, he has been an extraordinary mentor having fostered the careers of numerous future leaders in the field.”

Scadden added that he was particularly saddened by Gilliland’s departure as the two had been planning adjacent laboratory space in Allston.

“People are still dealing with the fact that he will not be there,” Zon said. “Finding someone of his prestige will be a long process.”

—Staff writer Laura G. Mirviss can be reached at lmirviss@fas.harvard.edu.