Kathryn Zoon

Kathryn C. Zoon
Born	Kathryn Egloff Yonkers, New York
Fields	immunologist Scientific administrator
Institutions	National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Cancer Institute
Alma mater	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Johns Hopkins University

Kathryn C. Zoon is a U.S.-based immunologist, elected to the U.S. Institute of Medicine in 2002 for her research on human interferons.^[1] She is the former scientific director of the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland.^[2] From 1992 to 2002, Zoon was director of the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).^[3]

Life

Zoon, née Egloff, was born in Yonkers, New York. She obtained her B.S. cum laude from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1970 and her Ph.D. in biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1976. Soon after receiving her Ph.D., she undertook a training fellowship in the NIH laboratory of Christian B. Anfinsen,^[4] who had won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.^[5] It was here, in the Anfinsen-led Laboratory of Chemical Biology, that she initiated her studies on interferon, a large class of proteins called cytokines used for communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system. In 1979 and 1980 she and her colleagues were the first to report the complete purification and partial characterization, including the terminal amino acid sequence analysis, of a human interferon alpha.^[6][7] The discovery helped launch the biotechnology era, including the cloning and development of new cytokine products for clinical use.^[8]

Following her NIH fellowship, Zoon moved to the FDA CBER in 1980 to continued her research on interferon; and, from 1992 to 2002, she served as CBER's director, focusing on developing policies to facilitate the development of biotechnology products, helped to advance the approval of a number of vaccines, and worked to achieve a safer blood supply.^[9]

From 2002 to 2004, Zoon was principal deputy director of the Center for Cancer Research at the NIH National Cancer Institute. In 2006 she became the first female scientific director of the NIH NIAID Division of Intramural Research, where she oversees a staff of more than 120 principal investigators who lead research groups composed of staff scientists, physicians, fellows, technical personnel, and students.^[10] This includes the NIAID-led Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, a biosafety level 4 facility. Zoon also continues her laboratory research on structure and function of human interferons as chief of NIAID's Cytokine Biology Section.^[11] She also is an associate editor of the Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research^[12] and author or co-author of more than 100 publications.^[13] She was past president of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (2000–2001) and serves on the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Biological Standardization, the Malaria Vaccine Initiative Vaccine Science Portfolio Advisory Council, the U.S. Department of Defense Malaria Vaccine Program Scientific Advisory Board, and the U.S. Agency for International Development Vaccine Development Scientific Consultants Group.^[14]

Family

Zoon lives with her husband, a retired physicist, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. She has two daughters: Jennifer Zoon, a communications specialist at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and Christine Zoon Harris, a surgeon.

Publications

• "Kathryn C. Zoon". Microsoft Academic Search.

References

External video

Human Cloning Research, video interview with Kathryn Zoom, C-SPAN.org. March 21, 2001

FDA Product Approval, video interview with Kathryn Zoom, C-SPAN.org. Nov. 7, 2002

1. "IOM Membership Directory". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
2. "NIAID Office of the Director". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
3. "ESSE GOODMAN, M.D., MPH, NAMED DIRECTOR OF CBER". Retrieved March 13, 2014.
4. "Human Lymphoblastoid Interferon" (PDF). J Bio Chem.
5. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1972". Retrieved March 13, 2015.
6. "Purification and partial characterization of human lymphoblast interferon". PNAS.
7. "Amino terminal sequence of the major component of human lymphoblastoid interferon.". Science.
8. "CBER Director Zoon To Give NIH Lecture" (PDF). NIH Record. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
9. "Kathryn C. Zoon, PhD". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
10. "NIAID Division of Intramural Research". NIH. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
11. "NIAID Cytokine Biology Section". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
12. "Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research Editorial Board". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
13. "PubMed Search Zoon K". PubMed. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
14. "Office of the Director - Director's Profile". Retrieved 13 March 2015.