Daniel C. Link, MD
Daniel C. Link, MD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Medicine and professor of pathology and immunology, is a world leader in hematopoiesis, the process by which blood cells are formed.
Link is the co-program leader of the Hematopoietic Development and Malignancy Program at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Hewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine. He also leads the Translational Oncology Program in the Division of Oncology at Washington University.
Link has made key advances in the fields of transplantation and the study of hematopoietic stem cells, the self-renewing cells that are found in the bone marrow. He has helped elucidate the function of and environment in which these stem cells live. This research has changed the scientific community’s understanding of hematopoiesis and suggested new approaches to advance the treatment of leukemia. He has published over 130 research papers and author several chapters on blood disorders for the major textbooks in the field.
Link is a highly respected teacher and mentor, receiving the Distinguished Faculty Award for Graduate Student Teaching in 2012 and the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award in 2010. He helps teach and keep the second-year Hematology course updated. He participates in key training programs at the medical school and is one of the most popular attending physicians on the Hematology Consult Service. Many of his students and fellows have gone on to successful careers in academia and industry.
Link’s patient care skills, like his research and teaching skills, are exceptional, say his colleagues, and engender the utmost confidence from his patients.
Link has received numerous awards throughout his career. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He has served on the editorial boards of multiple major scientific journals and on several study sections at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He led the team that received a highly coveted Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute to study leukemia.
Link received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1985, graduating first in his class. He did his residency training at Barnes Hospital, completed a fellowship in hematology-oncology at Washington University and joined the faculty in 1993.
The Washington University Medical Center Alumni Association is pleased to present its Faculty Achievement Award to Dr. Link.