Mark Roth is leading in the way in research on reversible metabolic hibernation, a technique that one day may be used to help buy time for critically ill trauma patients on organ-transplant lists and in operating rooms, emergency rooms and battlefields. Roth, a cell biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship and an affiliate associate professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington has pursued a variety of research avenues, including studies on gene regulation, chromosome structure and function, autoimmune disease and, most recently, induced metabolic hibernation.
Roth's work has led to major advances in basic biology, some of which have tremendous potential for human health. In particular, his research on induced metabolic hibernation, in which he has reversibly reduced the core temperature of mice to 10 degrees Celsius without loss of life or neurological problems, could one day lead to major breakthroughs for a host of human ills caused by tissue damage from a lack of oxygen.
"The creative work I've been able to do has depended upon my interaction with people from vastly different scientific backgrounds — people whose scientific orbits wouldn't normally intersect with mine.”