The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced that V. Craig Jordan, PhD, will join the institution in October 2014 as a Professor in Breast Medical Oncology and Molecular and Cellular Oncology. Dr. Jordan will focus on the new biology of estrogen-induced cell death with the goal of developing translational approaches for treating and preventing cancer.
“This is an exciting moment and I’m delighted that Dr. Jordan will be contributing to significant translational research activities in breast cancer here at MD Anderson,” said Ron DePinho, MD, President of MD Anderson. “His international reputation as a trailblazer in translational research and his many achievements and honors are well deserved. As we progress in our mission of ending cancer in Texas, the nation and the world, it is outstanding scientists like Dr. Jordan who will play key roles in delivering on that promise.”
Long and Distinguished Career
Dr. Jordan’s career has included leadership positions at several prestigious biomedical institutions. Currently, he is Scientific Director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and the Vincent T. Lombardi Chair of Translational Cancer Research. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Department of Oncology and Professor of Oncology and Pharmacology at Georgetown University’s Medical School. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Leeds in England, and an Adjunct Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry at Northwestern University in Chicago.
“Dr. Jordan’s election as a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2009 is just one of the many honors he’s received as a result of his incredible contributions to our understanding of cancer biology,” said Ethan Dmitrovsky, MD, MD Anderson Provost and Executive Vice President.
In addition to his National Academy membership, Dr. Jordan’s list of achievements, awards, and accomplishments is long and features more than four-dozen international awards, including The St. Gallen Prize for Breast Cancer (2011) and The David A. Karnofsky Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (2008), among others.
Prolific Author
Dr. Jordan has contributed to more than 700 publications, 99% of which pertain to cancer research. He has edited 11 books and has more than 26,000 scientific citations. He’s author of the book “Tamoxifen, Pioneering Medicine in Breast Cancer.”
Dr. Jordan, who was born in New Braunfels, Texas and raised in England, has dual British and U.S. citizenship. In 2002, he received the Order of the British Empire from Queen Elizabeth II for services to international breast cancer research. He earned a PhD and DSc degree from the University of Leeds and in 2001 received an honorary MD degree from his alma mater.
“I am proud to join MD Anderson Cancer Center,” said Dr. Jordan. “It is indeed an honor to continue my work at this world renowned cancer center where I look forward to working with my distinguished colleagues.”
‘Father of Tamoxifen’
Dr. Jordan, deemed the “Father of Tamoxifen,” is credited with reinventing a failed contraceptive (known as ICI 46,474) as a breast cancer treatment. The drug, in existence since the 1960s, was originally created to block estrogen in the hopes of preventing pregnancy. Dr. Jordan developed the strategy of long-term adjuvant tamoxifen therapy, as well as describing and deciphering the properties of a new group of medicines called selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs). He was the first to discover the preventive abilities of both tamoxifen and the drug raloxifene. The medicines were approved by the Food and Drug Administration for reducing breast cancer incidence in high-risk women.
Prior to joining Georgetown University, Dr. Jordan served on the faculties at Northwestern University Medical School, the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Berne, Switzerland, and the University of Leeds, England. ■
