FEBRUARY 5, 2026, NEW YORK - It is with sadness that we share news of the death of Richard Hynes, Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, Emeritus, at Ludwig MIT, who died on January 6. He was 81. A prolific researcher, Hynes was best known for his discovery and exhaustie study of integrins, a family of cell-surface receptors critical to cell adhesion, and his many contributions to related biology, ranging from embryonic development to cancer to immunology.
Born in Kenya, Hynes grew up in Liverpool, in the U.K., where he recalled attending school with a couple of the future Beatles, including Paul McCartney, who was also a Boy Scout troopmate of his. The son of an ecologist and a physics teacher, Hynes obtained his undergraduate and master's degrees from Cambridge University, and his PhD at MIT in 1971, returning there in 1975 as a founding member of the MIT Center for Cancer Research. His studies on the cancer cell's interactions with its immediate surroundings, which he began as a postdoctoral researcher, led to his discovery and characterization of fibronectin, a protein whose expression is often lost during carcinogenesis. His subsequent exploration of the extracellular matrix (ECM) led to his co-discovery of integrins, which play critical roles in multiple processes associated with cancer progression, such as angiogenesis and metastasis.
Hynes's exploration of integrin biology yielded discoveries that enriched our understanding of cancer biology and have led to treatments for cardiovascular disease and autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Widely honored for his scientific contributions-not least with the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award-Hynes also co-founded Matrisome Bio, which seeks to develop therapies for cancer and fibrosis by targeting the ECM. We extend our condolences to his family, friends and trainees who benefited from his kind and generous guidance and note that his was a life truly well lived.
