Marc T. Tessier-Lavigne

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Marc Tessier-Lavigne
OC FRS FRSC FMedSci
Tessier-Lavigne in 2013
11th President of Stanford University
In office
September 1, 2016 – August 31, 2023
Preceded byJohn L. Hennessy
Succeeded byRichard Saller
10th President of Rockefeller University
In office
March 16, 2011 – September 1, 2016
Preceded byPaul Nurse
Succeeded byRichard P. Lifton
Personal details
BornMarc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne
(1959-12-18) December 18, 1959
Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Children3
EducationMcGill University (BS)
New College, Oxford (BA)
University College London (PhD)
Scientific career
AwardsGruber Prize in Neuroscience 2020
FieldsNeuroscience
InstitutionsUniversity of California, San Francisco
Genentech
Rockefeller University
Stanford University
ThesisProcessing of Signals and Noise in the Outer Retina of the Salamander (1987)
David Attwell
Other academic advisors
Thomas Jessell

Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne (born December 18, 1959) is a Canadian-American neuroscientist who is the co-founder, CEO, and chair of the AI biotechnology firm Xaira Therapeutics. He is also a biology professor at Stanford University,[1] where he served as its 11th president from 2016 until his resignation in 2023.

Tessier-Lavigne was formerly executive vice president for research and the chief scientific officer at Genentech.[2] In 2011, he joined the boards of directors of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer. In 2014, he joined the board of Juno Therapeutics, and in 2015 he co-founded Denali Therapeutics and joined its board.[3][4][5][6][7] Tessier-Lavigne was the 10th president of Rockefeller University in New York City from 2011 to 2016, and a professor at the University of California, San Francisco.

In 2022, the Stanford board of trustees opened an investigation into alleged research misconduct by Tessier-Lavigne.[8][9][10] The board's investigation found that four papers co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne contained "apparent manipulation of research data", though the report cleared Tessier-Lavigne himself of intentional misconduct. Upon the report's release, Tessier-Lavigne announced his resignation as president of Stanford, effective August 31, 2023.[1]

Early life and education

Tessier-Lavigne was born in Trenton, Ontario, Canada. Aged seven to 17, he grew up in Europe where his father was serving with NATO as part of the Canadian Armed Forces.[11] He was the first in his family to attend university.[12]

In 1980, Tessier-Lavigne earned a BSc in physics from McGill University; in 1982, he took a BA in philosophy and physiology from New College, Oxford; in 1987, he gained a DPhil in physiology from University College London.[13]

Tessier-Lavigne attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he "first encountered the nervous system and fell in love with it" and graduated with first-class honors.[2][14][13] His doctoral advisor at University College London was David Attwell. Tessier-Lavigne did postdoctoral research at the MRC Developmental Neurobiology Unit at University College London in 1987 and at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University with Thomas Jessell from 1987 to 1991.[15][13]

Career

Early career: UCSF, Stanford and Genentech

Tessier-Lavigne started his career at the University of California, San Francisco, from 1991 to 2001, and was soon noted for research into the mechanisms of brain wiring during embryonic development.[16] He was a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University from 2001 to 2003.[17] Genentech hired him in 2003 as its senior vice president of Research Drug Discovery. He cited the firm's "potential to create breakthrough therapies for unmet medical needs" as his reason for leaving academia.[2][18] His brain-development research at Genentech also suggested a possible mechanism relevant to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.[2][19] A principal paper from that work, a 2009 study in Nature, was retracted in 2023 after subsequent research showed several of its central conclusions were incorrect and image anomalies were identified.[20]

Rockefeller University

In 2011, Tessier-Lavigne joined Rockefeller University as its 10th president, succeeding Paul Nurse.[2][14] He was the first senior scientist to leave Genentech following its 2009 acquisition by Roche, a departure he said was unrelated to the merger; Richard Scheller, his superior at Genentech, described the move as "part of the tradition of exchange between academia and Genentech."[2] As president, he oversaw an institution organized around some 70 independent laboratories whose heads reported directly to him.[2]

Tessier-Lavigne was a member of the Xconomists, an ad hoc team of editorial advisors for the tech news and media company Xconomy.[21]

Stanford University

On February 4, 2016, Stanford University announced that Tessier-Lavigne would become its 11th president, succeeding John L. Hennessy.[22] As president, Tessier-Lavigne presided over the opening of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Stanford's first new school since 1948.[23] In 2020, he was recognized as among "pioneers in elucidating the molecular mechanisms that guide axons to their targets, a key step in the formation of neural circuits", and awarded the Gruber Prize in Neuroscience.[24] That November, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of that nation's highest honors, "for his groundbreaking contributions to developmental neuroscience, and his renowned academic leadership and strong advocacy of science."[25]

Research misconduct investigation and resignation

In November 2022, Stanford announced that its Board of Trustees would oversee an examination of Tessier-Lavigne's publications, after reporting alleged that neurobiology papers he had co-authored contained manipulated images. Microbiologist Elisabeth Bik raised concerns about four papers (in such journals as Science and Nature) co-authored by Tessier-Lavigne, findings confirmed by The Stanford Daily.[9][26][27] In February 2023, Tessier-Lavigne declared allegations that he had intentionally falsified his work "utterly false".[28]

On July 19, 2023, the review committee released its report, finding that Tessier-Lavigne "failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record" created by work he had co-authored.[29] The committee found that "in at least four of the five papers [examined], there was apparent manipulation of research data by others",[30][31] but found "no evidence that Tessier-Lavigne himself manipulated data... nor that he knew about manipulation at the time". The report also criticized the "unusual frequency of manipulation of research data and/or substandard scientific practices from different people, at different times, and in labs overseen by Dr. Tessier-Lavigne at different institutions".[30] It further found that Tessier-Lavigne had notified the journal Science after he was initially informed about the errors in 2015; its editor-in-chief admitted that, due to an internal error, it had failed to publish the corrections for two papers.[10][32]

Upon the report's release, Tessier-Lavigne announced his resignation as president, effective August 31, 2023, as well as his retraction or correction of five scientific papers.[1][29]

Xaira Therapeutics

On April 23, 2024, it was announced that Tessier-Lavigne would become CEO of the AI drug-discovery startup Xaira Therapeutics,[33][34] of which he is a co-founder and chair.[35]

Honours

Personal life

Tessier-Lavigne met his wife, Mary Hynes, while he was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University. They have three children.[3]

References

  1. Saul, Stephanie (July 19, 2023). "Stanford President Will Resign After Report Found Flaws in His Research". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  2. Pollock, Andrew. "Genentech Scientist to Lead Rockefeller University", The New York Times, September 8, 2010. Accessed September 13, 2010.
  3. Cool, Kevin (September 2016). "A Leader in Full". alumni.stanford.edu. No. September/October 2016. Stanford Magazine. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  4. Sagonowsky, Eric (May 15, 2015). "Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Ph.D. to Leave Pfizer Board of Directors | Fierce Biotech". www.fiercebiotech.com. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  5. "Leadership". www.denalitherapeutics.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  6. "Meet Regeneron's Leadership Team". www.regeneron.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  7. "Agios". agios.com. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  8. Joseph, Andrew (November 30, 2022). "Stanford is investigating its president over allegations of research misconduct". STAT. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  9. Lee, Stephanie M. (November 29, 2022). "Stanford Is Investigating Its Own President Over Research-Misconduct Allegations". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
  10. Baker, Theo (March 6, 2023). "'MTL knew': misconduct allegations independently corroborated in private correspondence to special committee". Stanford Daily. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  11. McIlroy, Ann. "Noted Canadian scientist to take helm of Rockefeller University", The Globe and Mail, September 10, 2010. Accessed September 13, 2010.
  12. "President Marc Tessier-Lavigne talks to fellow first-gen students". Stanford News. September 18, 2017.
  13. "Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Stanford News. February 3, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
  14. Staff. "Rockefeller University Elects Marc Tessier-Lavigne 10th President", Rockefeller University press release dated September 9, 2010.
  15. Saul, Stephanie (February 5, 2016). "New Stanford President Has Biotech Connection". New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  16. "Finding Elusive Factors That Help Wire Up Brain". August 16, 1994. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  17. "Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Stanford University. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  18. Marc Tessier-Lavigne - Executive Vice President: Research and Chief Scientific Officer Archived September 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Genentech. Accessed September 13, 2010.
  19. "To understand the brain, Tessier-Lavigne studies its wiring". Rockefeller.edu. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  20. Nikolaev, Anatoly; McLaughlin, Todd; O'Leary, Dennis D. M.; Tessier-Lavigne, Marc (December 18, 2023). "Retraction Note: APP binds DR6 to trigger axon pruning and neuron death via distinct caspases". Nature. 625 (7993): 204. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06943-3.
  21. "About Our Mission, Team, and Editorial Ethics". Xconomy. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  22. "Neuroscience pioneer Marc Tessier-Lavigne named Stanford's next president". news.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
  23. Gelles, David (May 4, 2022). "John Doerr Gives Stanford $1.1 Billion for Climate School". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  24. "2020 Gruber Neuroscience Prize | Gruber Foundation". gruber.yale.edu. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  25. Lovell, Donna (November 27, 2020). "Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne named an Officer of the Order of Canada". Stanford University.
  26. Baker, Theo (November 29, 2022). "Stanford president's research under investigation for scientific misconduct, University admits 'mistakes'". The Stanford Daily. Stanford, CA.
  27. Baker, Theo (February 17, 2023). "Internal review found 'falsified data' in Stanford President's Alzheimer's research, colleagues allege". The Stanford Daily. Stanford, CA.
  28. Selig, Kate (February 17, 2023). "Stanford president criticizes Daily report on alleged research falsification as 'replete with falsehoods'". The Stanford Daily. Stanford, CA.
  29. Baker, Theo (July 19, 2023). "Stanford president resigns over manipulated research, will retract at least three papers". The Stanford Daily.
  30. "Special Committee - Board of Trustees". Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  31. Stanford freshman's determined reporting leads to investigation, president's resignation, July 19, 2023, retrieved July 24, 2023
  32. Joseph, Andrew (November 30, 2022). "Stanford is investigating its president over allegations of research misconduct". Stat News.
  33. Leuty, Ron (April 23, 2024). "Backed by $1 billion, former Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne heading AI-focused biotech startup". www.bizjournals.com.
  34. Buvailo, Andrii. "A New Al Drug Discovery Startup Launched with $1 Billion in Capital". Archived from the original on April 23, 2024.
  35. "Marc Tessier-Lavigne". The AI Conference. April 10, 2025. Retrieved October 16, 2025.
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  37. "Marc Trevor Tessier-Lavigne". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  38. "American Philosophical Society: Newly Elected - April 2017". Archived from the original on September 15, 2017.
  39. "Marc Tessier-Lavigne Rockefeller University Faculty Page". Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  40. "Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on July 31, 2023. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
  41. UCL (September 11, 2014). "UCL Honorary Graduands and Fellows 2014". UCL News. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  42. "USU Professor Named Among 2019 Carnegie Corp. "Great Immigrants, Great Americans"". DVIDS. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
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