It is with great sadness that we learned that Richard Hynes, Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, Emeritus, at Ludwig MIT died on January 6. He was 81. A scientist as productive as he was inspired, Richard was best known for his discovery of integrins—a family of cell-surface receptors critical to cell adhesion—and his many subsequent contributions to related biology, ranging from embryonic development to cancer to immunology. Born in Kenya, Richard grew up during the 1950s in Liverpool, in the U.K., where he attended school with a couple of the future Beatles, George Harrison and Paul McCartney (the latter, he said, was also a Boy Scout troopmate of his). He earned his PhD from MIT in 1971, returning there four years later as a founding member of the MIT Center for Cancer Research—now known as the Koch Institute. Widely honored for his scientific contributions, not least with the prestigious Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2022, Richard also co-founded a biotech, Matrisome Bio, that seeks to develop therapies for cancer and fibrosis by targeting the extracellular matrix. We extend our condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and countless trainees who benefited from his kind and generous guidance and note that, above all else, his was a life truly well lived.
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