Van Andel Institute Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Peter A. Jones elected to National Academy of Medicine

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Oct. 21, 2024) — Van Andel Institute Chief Scientific Officer Peter A. Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hon), has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine.  

Considered to be among the highest honors in the fields of medicine and health, election to the academy recognizes a career-spanning record of outstanding achievement and service.

Jones is a pioneer and world leader in epigenetics, a growing field that explores how the instructions in DNA are regulated without changing the DNA sequence itself. Discoveries by Jones and colleagues have demonstrated the central roles epigenetics play in health and diseases such as cancer.

Jones’ election was announced today during the academy’s annual meeting. Ninety U.S. members and 10 international members were elected. Michigan is home to more than 60 of the academy’s more than 2,400 members.

 “As a basic scientist, it is an absolute honor to be elected to the National Academy of Medicine,” said Jones. “I’ve always believed that the promise of science is rooted in its ability to improve health and wellbeing. It is heartening to join this group of people who are so deeply committed to this shared mission.”

Jones’ groundbreaking work in the 1980s was the first to link an epigenetic process called DNA methylation to gene expression and cellular differentiation. DNA methylation occurs when chemical tags called methyl groups are added to genes. These tags govern whether the instructions in a gene are active or silent.

Inappropriate methylation is now widely recognized as a driving force in cancer — and as a powerful treatment target. Jones’ early work revealed the effects of a drug called 5-azacytidine on methylation, which led to its approval as a treatment for certain blood cancers.

His efforts to translate laboratory discoveries into cancer treatments led to his appointment, along with collaborator Stephen B. Baylin, M.D., as co-leader of the original Stand Up To Cancer® Epigenetics Dream Team in 2009. After joining VAI in 2014, Jones and Baylin established the Van Andel Institute–Stand Up To Cancer® Epigenetics Dream Team, which brings together leading cancer research and treatment organizations to evaluate promising potential cancer treatments. To date, the team has launched 15 clinical trials in cancers of the lung, bladder and breast, among others.  

Jones’s election to the National Academy of Medicine is the most recent in a long list of accolades recognizing his extensive contributions. He also is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy. He is past president of AACR, two-time recipient of a National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award and a co-investigator of NCI’s first epigenetics-focused SPORE Award, which supports innovative team science initiatives. Along with Baylin, Jones is the recipient of the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor and AACR’s Kirk A. Landon Prize for Basic Cancer Research.  

Jones was born in Cape Town, South Africa, attended college in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and earned his Ph.D. from University of London. He joined the University of Southern California in 1977 and served as director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center between 1993 and 2011. In 2014, he was recruited to Van Andel Institute as chief scientific officer, where he has spearheaded a period of immense growth in the Institute’s size and scope. He also serves as president of VAI and Van Andel Institute Graduate School.

The National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine, was founded in 1970 to address issues in health, science and medicine. It is one of three academies that comprise the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation. The original charter for the National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress and signed by then-President Abraham Lincoln as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology.