Congratulations to KI member and Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, Richard Hynes, for being named the recipient of the 2017 David Rall Medal from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Hynes was chosen for his leadership as the co-chair of the NAM/NAS Report Committee on Human Genome Editing. To honor his recent award, Hynes sat down with NAM to discuss his research, his inspiration for getting involved in policy work, and his thoughts on how to better engage public interest in science and medicine.