Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, Chair of Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Institute Member of Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, has been awarded the Sjöberg Prize, an annual international award in cancer research. Dr. Ebert received the prize for his discovery of the mode of action of lenalidomide in the treatment of hematologic disorders.
This is the fifth presentation of the Sjöberg Prize. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the laureates, and the Sjöberg Foundation provides the financing. The prize amounts to $1 million, of which $100,000 is the prize sum and $900,000 is funding for future research. The award was established by businessman Bengt Sjöberg following his own cancer diagnosis and is intended to promote scientific research with a primary focus on cancer, health, and the environment.
Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD
‘Epoch-Making’ Finding
Bengt Westermark, PhD, Chair of the Prize Committee, noted Dr. Ebert’s finding as “epoch-making” and believes it will be extremely important in the development of new cancer drugs. “So far, the greatest clinical benefit is in the treatment of multiple myeloma. Many of the proteins that drive cancer growth have proven difficult to target using pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ebert’s discovery shows that it may be possible to direct such proteins so they are degraded and thus stop the growth of the tumor,” said Dr. Westermark.
Dr. Ebert is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the Association of American Physicians. His additional awards include the Till and McCollough Award from the International Society of Experimental Hematopoiesis, the William Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology, the Meyenburg Prize, and mentoring and teaching awards from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Ebert received his doctorate from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and worked with Sir Peter Ratcliffe, FRS, FMedSci. He completed his medical degree at Harvard Medical School, a residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at Dana-Farber.
