Gary D Hammer

Gary D. Hammer, M.D., Ph.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine (MEND), Cell & Developmental Biology, and Molecular & Integrative Physiology. He currently serves as the Director of Endocrine Oncology Program in the Rogel Cancer Center where he holds the Millie Schembechler Professorship in Adrenal Cancer. He is the past Director of The Center for Organogenesis: Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine. He has brokered the recent renaissance of the current Michigan team of adrenal scientists that includes a who’s who in the study of adrenal disease. Research projects in his own laboratory are aimed at elucidating the mechanisms by which growth factor signaling and transcriptional programs initiate adrenal-specific growth and differentiation with an emphasis on dysregulated adrenocortical stem cells in development and homeostasis with implications for regenerative medicine and cancer. He received the UofM Jerome Conn Award for Outstanding Research in Internal Medicine, the Endocrine Society Edwin B. Astwood Award for Outstanding Research and is a member of ASCI and AAP. He has served in numerous leadership roles at U of M and in the public and private sectors including recent tenure on Board of Scientific Advisors for NCI. He has served in numerous capacities for the world’s largest endocrine organization, the Endocrine Society, including his most recent role as President of the Society (2020-2021). As Advisor to the Congressional H.E.L.P. committee, he co-authored “The 21st Century Cancer ALERT (Access to Life-Saving Early detection, Research and Treatment) Act’’ introduced in Congress in 2009. He is the editor of four textbooks: Adrenocortical Carcinoma: Basic Science and Clinical Concepts (Springer, 2011), Pathophysiology of Disease: An Introduction to Clinical Medicine (Harper Row, 2014; 2018; 2026), Genetics Steroid Disorders 2nd edition (Elsevier, 2023) and the Adrenal Section Editor for Degroot’s Endocrinology, 8th and 9th edition (Elsevier, 2022; 2026). He has been catalyst for the formation of two international cooperative groups, most recently the American Australian Asian Adrenal Alliance (A5) that leverages collaboration to secure projects from Pharma and funding agencies across the spectrum of adrenal diseases. Such work with colleagues has led to the development of new national and international therapeutic trials with biological-based therapies while sparing normal tissue. He is a co-founder of two companies - MILLENDO and SLING THERAPEUTICS, that focus on rare endocrine diseases.