Jerry W. Shay

Jerry W. Shay is a Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, holding the Southland Financial Corporation Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Research. He also serves as Associate Director for Education and Training at the Harold Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research focuses on telomere biology, aging, and cancer therapy development, with an emphasis on targeting telomerase in cancer treatment and understanding age-related disease mechanisms.

Shay earned his BA in Zoology/Cell Biology from the University of Texas at Austin (1966), MA in Cell Biology from the University of Kansas (1968), and PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Colorado Boulder (1975). He joined UT Southwestern in 1975, advancing from Assistant/Associate Professor to full Professor in 1993.

His research interests include telomere dysfunction-induced anti-tumor immunity, cancer therapy resistance, and the role of telomerase in cellular aging. Key projects involve developing therapies like 6-thio-dG, which targets telomerase-dependent cancers, and studying the interplay between environmental toxins and colorectal carcinogenesis.

Awarded numerous honors including the UT Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award (2012) and the Piper Professorship (2013), Shay has contributed to over 30 patents, including methods to detect telomerase activity and compounds targeting cancer cell adhesion. His lab collaborates with companies like Maia Biotechnology and Reata Pharmaceuticals to translate research into clinical applications.

Shay’s work bridges basic science and translational research, with ongoing projects in radiation-induced cancer progression, immune modulation in cancer treatment, and telomere measurement technologies like the TeSLA assay.