Richard Hynes

Richard Hynes
Born
Richard Olding Hynes

(1944-11-29)29 November 1944
Nairobi, Colony and Protectorate of Kenya
Died6 January 2026(2026-01-06) (aged 81)
CitizenshipAmerican
British
EducationUniversity of Cambridge (BA, MA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Known forCell adhesion research
Discovery of fibronectin
AwardsCanada Gairdner International Award
E.B. Wilson Medal
Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award
Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research
Scientific career
FieldsCell biology
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Broad Institute
ThesisRegulation of gene expression during early cleavage in sea urchin embryos (1971)
Doctoral advisorPaul R. Gross
Doctoral studentsDenisa Wagner

Richard Olding Hynes FRS (29 November 1944 – 6 January 2026) was a British biologist, who was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research focused on cell adhesion and the interactions between cells and the extracellular matrix, with a particular interest in understanding molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis. Hynes is regarded as a co-discoverer of fibronectin molecules, a discovery that has been listed by Thomson Scientific ScienceWatch as a Nobel Prize candidate.