Tak W. Mak received his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1972 from the University of Alberta after completing undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. In 1997, he was appointed Professor at the University of Toronto. He is also Vice President of Research/Director of the The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. He has co-authored over 350 scientific papers and is a member on numerous advisory boards of scientific journals and medical centers.Mak is best recognized for the discovery of the T-cell receptor in 1984, and is a leader in the development of knockout mice for the analysis of gene function. He has also made significant contributions in the areas of… virology, immunology, genetics, molecular signaling, and cancer biology. His laboratory has ongoing efforts to understand the changes in gene function that occur when cells become cancerous, cell signaling pathways, and the role of apoptosis in development and disease.