The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recognized six oncologists making valuable contributions to their fields with awards at the Association’s Annual Meeting 2015, held in Philadelphia from April 18–22.
William C. Hahn, MD, PhD, was awarded with the 39th Annual AACR–Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award. This award provides incentive to young investigators early in their careers and recognizes research that has made a notable contribution to improved clinical care in the field of cancer.
Dr. Hahn is Chief of the Division of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, Chair of the Executive Committee for Research, and Director of the Center for Cancer Genome Discovery at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
He was honored for his seminal contributions to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying cancer initiation, maintenance, and progression. His work has defined new conceptual paradigms and has provided a foundation for novel therapeutic approaches.
Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, PhD, was awarded with the 10th Annual AACR Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. This lectureship is named in honor of Jane Cooke Wright, MD, a pioneer in clinical cancer chemotherapy who became the highest ranking black woman at a nationally recognized medical institution in 1967. It is awarded to an outstanding scientist who has made contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.
Dr. Adams-Campbell is Professor of Oncology, Associate Director of Minority Health and Disparities Research, and Associate Dean of Community Health and Outreach at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center. She also is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Black Women’s Health Study and served as Co-Principal Investigator of the Women’s Health Initiative.
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, was awarded with the 20th Annual AACR–Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research. The award recognizes outstanding achievements in clinical cancer research.
Dr. Jaffee is Deputy Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at John Hopkins, the Dana and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Codirector of the Skip Viragh Center for Pancreas Cancer, the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program, and the Cancer Immunology Program and Immunology and Hematopoiesis Division, respectively.
She was recognized for her outstanding contributions to cancer immunology in both the preclinical and early clinical settings. Her pioneering work in immunotherapies for breast and pancreatic cancers has been tremendously influential to the discovery and development of new and effective cancer treatments.
Mitchell H. Gail, MD, PhD, was awarded with the 24th Annual AACR–American Cancer Society Award for Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention. This award honors outstanding research accomplishments in the fields of cancer epidemiology, biomarkers, and prevention.
Dr. Gail is a Senior Investigator in the Biostatistics Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Gail was recognized for his pioneering statistical work in cancer research and development of cancer risk prediction models, in particular models for breast cancer risk projection. The model commonly known as the “Gail model” was the first cancer risk prediction model that could be applied in a generalized population.
Sara A. Courtneidge, PhD, DSc, was awarded with the 18th Annual AACR–Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship. The lectureship recognizes an outstanding scientist who has made contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of women in science.
Dr. Courtneidge is Professor of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), and Senior Investigator for OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute.
She was recognized for her seminal contributions to current understanding of Src-family kinases as well as her advocacy for women in science.
Philip S. Low, PhD, was awarded with the 9th Annual AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research. The award is given for outstanding, novel, and significant chemistry research that has led to important contributions to the fields of basic cancer research, translational cancer research, cancer diagnosis, the prevention of cancer, or the treatment of patients with cancer.
Dr. Low is the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Drug Discovery at Purdue University.
He is being recognized for his pioneering development of low molecular weight ligands to deliver attached therapeutic and imaging agents selectively into pathologic cells. ■
