Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is proud to announce three recipients of this year’s Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research. The prize recognizes a new generation of leaders in cancer research who are making significant contributions to the understanding of cancer or are improving the treatment of the disease through basic or clinical research. The winners, all younger than age 50, will share a cash award of $150,000. They will present their work at a series of lectures hosted by MSK in March 2022.
Meet the Recipients
Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD, PhD, is Professor at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at The University of Texas Southwestern and an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. DeBerardinis studies the role of altered metabolic states in human disease, including metabolic diseases in children and
Ralph J. DeBerardinis, MD, PhD
cancer. To determine which metabolic pathways are most important for tumor growth and survival, his lab uses isotope-labeled nutrients to track how tumor tissues use energy sources. The long-term goal of this research is to develop new drugs that destroy cancer cells by targeting their use of nutrients.
Sun Hur, PhD, is an Oscar M. Schloss Professor at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital and an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In her lab, Dr. Hur studies the innate immune system—in particular,
Sun Hur, PhD
how host cells distinguish between self and non-self nucleic acids. She has used her expertise in chemistry and structural biology to address vital questions in this field. Her research has led to the discovery of mechanisms for key signaling pathways that play a role in both the immune response and pathogenesis of a wide range of immune disorders. It also can be applied to the development of new types of cancer immunotherapy.
Charles Swanton, MBBS, PhD, is a Royal Society Napier Professor, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Chief Clinician, and Chair of Personalized Cancer Medicine at University College London (UCL). He is also Director of the CRUK UCL/Manchester Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence and Senior Group Leader for Cancer Evolution
Charles Swanton, MBBS, PhD
and Genome Instability Laboratory at the Francis Crick Institute. Dr. Swanton is a thoracic oncologist, who in the lab studies the instability of the cancer genome in the context of the cell cycle and its impact on clinical outcome, drug resistance, and immune surveillance. His research into how cancer cells evolve has important implications for understanding how tumors develop resistance to targeted therapies.
Honoring the legacy of the late Paul A. Marks, MD—a distinguished scientist and leader who served as President of MSK for nearly 2 decades—the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research recognizes early and mid-career investigators who have made significant contributions to increasing the understanding of cancer.
