Kenneth Kaushansky

Kenneth Kaushansky (born October 20, 1953) is an American medical doctor, hematologist, former editor of the medical journal Blood, and served as the dean of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine from 2010 to 2021. Prior to moving to Stony Brook, he was the Helen M. Ranney Professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Early life and education Kaushansky was born on October 20, 1953, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The family migrated to the United States when Kaushansky was two years old. Kaushansky graduated from UCLA in 1975, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.S. in biochemistry. He stayed at UCLA to obtain his medical degree in 1979. He completed his internship and residency in hematology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Kaushansky was appointed Chief Resident at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, in 1982.

During his time in Seattle, he was honored with the NIH Physician Scientist Award in 1984, given to promising physician-scientists early in their careers. He was also awarded the junior faculty award by the American Cancer Society and was elected a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

In 2002, Kaushansky was appointed as Chair and Helen M. Ranney Professor of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

Between 2003 and 2009, Kaushansky was named on the list of America's Top Doctors and San Diego's Top Doctors in Internal Medicine. In 2004, he was also elected a member to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Kaushansky served as the editor-in-chief of the medical journal Blood for five years between 1997 and 2002. Just before assuming this position, he was awarded the William Dameshek Prize. William Dameshek was the founder of Blood and a renowned hematologist. The Dameshek Prize is awarded annually to someone less than 50 years of age, who is deemed to have made "outstanding contributions" to hematology. In 2006 and 2007, Kaushansky was elected as a member the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and honored as a Master of the American College of Physicians. He is also the former president of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Society of Hematology.

Personal life Kaushansky is married to Lauren Elizabeth Kaushansky and together they have two children, Alexis and Joshua Kaushansky. Alexis is a PhD molecular biologist and Joshua is an economist for the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities based in Boston. Kaushansky and his wife reside in Eatons Neck, New York.

Patents awarded US Patent #5,546,536: Inventors: Kaushansky K, Hagen FS. Colony-stimulating factor derivatives. 1988 US Patent # 5,989,537: Inventors: Holly RD, Lok S, Foster DC, Kaushansky K, Kuijper JL, Lofton-Day CE, Oort PJ. Methods for stimulating granulocyte-macrophage lineage using thrombopoietin. 1999 US Patent #6,099,830: Inventors: Kaushansky K. Methods for stimulating erythropoiesis using hematopoietic proteins. August 8, 2000 Australian Patent #725159: Inventor: Kaushansky K. Methods for stimulating erythropoiesis using thrombopoietin. October 5, 2000 Australian Patent #723793: Inventors: Holly RD, Lok S, Foster DC, Hagen FS, Kaushansky K, Kuijper JL, Lofton-Day CE, Oort PJ, Burkhead SK. Hematopoietic protein and materials and methods for making it. December 21, 2000 US Patent #6,316,254: Inventors: Holly RD, Lok S, Foster DC, Kaushansky K, Kuijper JL, Lofton-Day CE, Oort PJ. Methods for stimulating erythropoiesis using hematopoietic proteins. November 13, 2001 International Patent # WO 2004/026332A1: Kaushansky K, MacDonald B. Methods of increasing platelet and hematopoietic stem cell production. April 1, 2004.

Selected publications Kaushansky K, Lok S, Holly RD, Broudy VC, Lin N, Bailey MC, Forstrom JW, Buddle M, Oort PJ, Hagen FS, Roth GJ, Papayannopoulou Th, Foster DC: Promotion of megakaryocyte progenitor expansion and differentiation by the c-Mpl ligand thrombopoietin. Nature 369:568-571, 1994. Lok S, Kaushansky K, Holly RD, Kuijper JL, Lofton-Day CE, Oort PJ, Grant FJ, Heipel MD, Burkhead SK, Kramer JM, Bell LA, Sprecher CA, Blumberg H, Johnson R, Prunkard D, Ching AFT, Mathewes S, Bailey MC, Forstrom JW, Buddle MM, Osborn SG, Evans SJ, Sheppard PO, Presnell SR, O'Hara PJ, Hagen FS, Roth GJ., Foster DC: Cloning and expression of murine thrombopoietin cDNA and stimulation of platelet production in vivo. Nature 369:565-568, 1994. Kaushansky K, Broudy VC, Lin N, Jorgensen MJ, McCarty J, Fox N, Zucker-Franklin D, Lofton-Day C: Thrombopoietin, the Mpl-ligand, is essential for full megakaryocyte development. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:3234-3238, 1995. Kaushansky K, Broudy, VC, Grossmann A, Humes J, Lin N, Ren H-P, Bailey MC, Papayannopoulou Th, Forstrom JW, Sprugel KH: Thrombopoietin expands erythroid progenitors, increases red cell production, and enhances erythroid recovery after myelosuppressive therapy. J. Clin. Invest. 96:1683-1687, 1995. Fero ML, Rivkin M, Tasch M, Porter P, Carow CE, Firpo E, Polyak K, Tsai LH, Broudy VC, Perlmutter R, Kaushansky K, Roberts JM: A syndrome of gigantism, tumorigenesis and female sterility in p27Kip-1 deficient mice. Cell. 85:733-744, 1996. Kaushansky K, Shoemaker SG, O'Rork C, McCarty J: The regulation of GM-CSF is dependent on a complex interplay of multiple nuclear regulatory proteins. Mol. Immunol. 33: 461–470, 1996. Kaushansky K: Thrombopoietin. Drug Therapy Series. The New England Journal of Medicine 339:746-754, 1998 Parrish-Novak J, Dillon SR, Nelson A, Hammond A, Sprecher C, Gross JA, Johnston J, Madden K, Xu W, West J, Schrader S, Burkhead S, Heipel M, Brandt C, Kuijper J, Kramer J, Conklin D, Presnell SR, Berry J, Shiota F, Bort S, Hambly K, Mudri S, Clegg C, Moore M, Grant FJ, Lofton-Day C, Gilbert T, Raymond F, Ching A, Yao L, Smith D, Webster P, Whitmore T, Maurer M, Kaushansky K, Holly R, Foster D. Interleukin 21 and IL21R: A novel cytokine-receptor pair involved in NK cell expansion and lymphocyte function. Nature 408: 57-63, 2000 Geddis AE, Kaushansky K. Endomitotic megakaryocytes form a midzone in anaphase but have a deficiency in cleavage furrow formation. Cell Cycle. 2006; 5:538-545 Kaushansky K. Lineage specific hematopoietic growth factors. The New England Journal of Medicine 354:2034-2045, 2006 Geron I, Abrahamsson A, Kavalerchik E, Barroga C, Gotlib J, Hood J, Soll R, Noronha G, Durocher J, Tefferi A, Kaushansky K, Jamieson C. Selective inhibition of JAK2 driven erythroid differentiation potential of polycythemia vera progenitors. Cancer Cell, 2008; 13:321-330 Hitchcock I, Chen M, Fox NE, Kaushansky K. YRRL motifs in the cytoplasmic domain of the thrombopoietin receptor regulate receptor internalization and degradation. Blood 2008 112:2222-2231 Soda M, Willert K, Kaushansky K, Geddis A. Inhibition of GSK-3a promotes survival and proliferation of megakaryocytic cells through b-catenin-independent signaling. Cell Signal. 2008 20:2317-2323 Kaushansky K: Thrombopoietin: Biological and preclinical properties. Leukemia 10:Suppl. S46-48, 1996 Kaushansky K, Lok S: The molecular and cellular biology of thrombopoietin, the MPL ligand. In: Molecular Basis of Thrombosis and Hemostatis. KA High, HR Roberts (Eds.), Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY pp. 651-662, 1995. Kaushansky K: In vitro predictions, in vivo realities. Platelets 8: 444–445, 1997.