Tak K. Mak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tak Wah Mak, also known as Tak K. Mak (born 1946 in China) is an award-winning Canadian biochemist, geneticist and oncologist, notable for his pioneering work in the genetics of immunology.
Born in southern China in 1946 and raised in Hong Kong, Mak studied biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Wisconsin. In the early 1970s, he earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton. After he obtained his degree, Dr. Mak became a Canadian citizen.
In 1984, Dr. Mak published his work on the cloning of T-cell receptor genes; as of 2005, that article has been cited nearly 1200 times, as it led to the creation of genetically-altered mice which are be used in basic research into breast cancer.
ly 1200 times in other scientific studies around the world. Dr. Mak’s role in advancing the use of genetically altered mice in scientific study has led to important breakthroughs in immunology and understanding cancer at the cellular level. The basic research in breast cancer conducted by Dr. Mak has been published in top international scientific journals and he has given several keynote addresses at breast cancer symposiums across Canada and the United States.
In spite of offers from prestigious institutions around the world, Dr. Mak remained committed to Canada’s scientific community. In 1993, Dr. Mak assisted in establishing the AMGEN Research Institute in Toronto. As of 2005, AMGEN-produced papers have been cited more than 40,000 times.
Dr. Mak holds Honorary Doctoral Degrees from numerous universities in North America and Europe. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and has been elected a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (UK.) He has won international recognition in the forms of the Emil von Behring Prize, the King Faisal Prize for Medicine, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Sloan Prize of the General Motors Cancer Foundation, the Paul Ehrlich Prize and the Novartis Prize in Immunology.
