Stephen B. Baylin, MD, is Virginia and D.K. Ludwig professor of oncology and medicine, co-director of the Cancer Biology Division, and associate director for research programs of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Baylin attended Duke University, where he earned his medical degree in 1968 and completed his internship and first-year residency in internal medicine. He then worked for two years at the National Heart and Lung Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 1971, Dr. Baylin joined the departments of oncology and medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
His research interests include cellular biology and genetics of cancer, specifically epigenetics or genetic modifications other than those in DNA that can affect cell behavior, and silencing of tumor suppressor genes and tumor progression. His research has looked at the mechanisms through which variations in tumor cells derive, and cell differentiation in cancers such as medullary thyroid carcinoma and small cell lung carcinoma.
Dr. Baylin’s honors include the 2004 National Investigator of the Year Award from the NCI SPORE program; the 2005 Jack Gibson Visiting Professorship, University of Hong Kong Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong; the 2005 Shubitz Cancer Research Prize from the University of Chicago; the 2008 Raffaele Tecce Memorial Lecture, Rome, Italy; the 2008 David Workman Memorial Award from the Waxman Foundation; the 2009 Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic and Translational Cancer Research (jointly with Peter A. Jones, PhD); the 2010 14th NCI Alfred G. Knudson Award in Cancer Genetics and the 2011 American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor Award (jointly with Peter A. Jones, PhD) and most recently the Fellow of The American Association of Cancer Research – Academy Class of 2014.
Dr. Baylin served on the American Association for Cancer Research board of directors from 2004 through 2007 and is an associate editor of Cancer Research, a major scientific journal published by AACR. He has also presented frequently at AACR conferences and chaired the special conference on “DNA Methylation, Imprinting, and the Epigenetics of Cancer.” Dr. Baylin has authored or co-authored more than 400 publications.
In April 2017 Dr. Baylin was elected to the Association of American Physicians.