36. Michael Wigler, Ph.D.

Wigler has been a trailblazer in the field of biomedical research, including human genetic disorders, population genetics and cancer genomics, and his contributions to the field of mammalian genetics have led to medicinal breakthroughs in the treatment of strokes, heart disease and cancer. Wigler’s work on mammalian cell gene transfer is nothing short of groundbreaking—with several major scientific discoveries occurring behind the walls of CSHL, where he has been since 1979. His genius unparalleled, Wigler remains on the forefront of molecular cancer research, unraveling the mysteries of the genetic mutations driving the evolution of cancer cells and those that underlie genetic diseases, such as autism, and discovering new disease-causing genes. Now that’s power.