Tim Hla grew up in Burma/ Myanmar and went to the United States to complete his college education. He received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in the lab of Martyn Bailey at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Following his postdoctoral fellowship with Tom Maciag, he established his independent laboratory at the Holland Labs of American Red Cross in Rockville, Maryland. His lab cloned the human cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) contributed to the expression and function of COX-2 pathway in inflammation, angiogenesis and cancer. In addition, his lab discovered the sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor, elucidated the signalling and functions of S1P in physiology and diseases with a focus on the vascular system and proposed the concept of S1P chaperones in the function of this lipid mediator. His work was foundation to the successful launch of COX-2 inhibitors and S1PR modulators. He is currently the Patricia Donahoe Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an investigator at the Boston Children’s Hospital. He is an honorary member of the Japanese Biochemical Society, fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, recipient of the honorary MD degree from the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany and an awardee of the NIH MERIT and outstanding investigator awards. His lab continues to conduct basic research in sphingolipid biology and is exploring novel therapeutic approaches to rejuvenate the aged and/or diseased blood vessels.