Kathryn C. Zoon, Ph.D.

Scientist Emeritus
NIAID/NIH
Special Advisor to the Deputy Director of Intramural Research, NIH

Dr. Kathryn C. Zoon is currently NIAID/NIH Scientist Emeritus (August 2016). She was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of Emergent BioSolutions (November 2016) and the FDA Alumni Association (2017). Previously she was Interim Director of the new NIH Office of Research Support and Compliance (April-June 2016) where she developed and established the new office and recruited key individuals to continue its future operations. She was previously the Director of the Division of Intramural Research at NIAID (2006-2015) and was the Deputy Director for Planning and Development of the Division of Intramural Research at NIAID, 2004-2006.

Dr. Zoon served as the Principal Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute, 2003–2004. She was also Chief of the Cytokine Biology Section in the Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), NIH (2004-2016), where she conducted research on the structure and function of human interferon alphas and developed a new cell therapy using IFNs and autologous monocytes which she is still collaborating with NCI to start a clinical trial for ovarian cancer. She served as the Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (1992-2003). Dr. Zoon has been a member/participant of the NIH Scientific Directors (1992 to the present). Dr. Zoon was the Director of the Division of Cytokine Biology in CBER, 1988–1992, where she directed the research and review of cytokines, growth factors, and cellular products. She studied the production and purification of human interferon at NIH from 1975 to 1980 with Nobel Laureate Christian B. Anfinsen.

She received her B.S. degree, cum laude, in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was granted a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Zoon is an associate editor of the Journal of Interferon Research and the author of more than 140 scientific papers. She was President of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research, 2000–2001. Dr. Zoon has been a member of the National Academy of Medicine since 2002 and is also a member of the Division on Earth and Life Studies Committee, National Research Council, 2015-2017. She was a member of the WHO’s Expert Committee on Biological Standards for almost two decades.

Dr. Zoon has received numerous awards, including BioPharm Person of the Year Award, 1992; the 2001 HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for outstanding leadership in positioning FDA as an important contributor to the Nation’s capability to respond to bioterrorism. In June 2003, she received the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumna Award and two HHS awards for counterbioterrorism and gene therapy. In May 2005, she received the HHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service for the Tissue Action Plan Team. Most recently she received the 2014 William S. Hancock Award for outstanding achievements in CMC regulatory science, the NIH Director’s Award (2016) “For exemplary leadership, vision, dedication and tireless commitment to establishing a new program/office to provide regulatory services and compliance support for NIH’s intramural research program, and the FDA’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2016).