The Pezcoller Foundation–American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research will be presented to Douglas Hanahan, PhD, FAACR, during the upcoming 2025 AACR Annual Meeting, to be held April 25–30 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.
Douglas Hanahan, PhD, FAACR
Dr. Hanahan is the Ludwig Distinguished Scholar at the Lausanne Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He is being recognized for his fundamental discoveries in cancer research that have had a far-reaching translational impact. Through the generation and characterization of innovative mouse models, he defined multistep tumorigenesis by uncovering the molecular mechanisms required to drive cancer growth and helped establish the principle that malignant traits in cancer are conferred by cooperative interactions between cancer cells and co-opted host cells recruited into the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, he conceptualized, together with Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, the “Hallmarks of Cancer,” a logical framework for rationalizing the vast complexity of cancer that continues to evolve and resonate broadly with the entire cancer research community.
The Pezcoller Foundation–AACR International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Cancer Research was established in 1997 to recognize scientists who have made major scientific discoveries in basic or translational cancer research. Awardees must be active in cancer research, have a record of recent noteworthy publications, and be conducting ongoing work that holds promise for continued substantive contributions to progress in the field of cancer.
Focus of Cancer Research
Dr. Hanahan is a scientific pioneer who has expertly helped propel and shape the emergence of functional genetics in cancer research. Early in his career, he demonstrated that oncogene expression is not sufficient to drive tumor formation, identifying that tumorigenesis requires the acquisition of secondary events, such as resistance to cell death, the induction of angiogenesis, or immune evasion. Dr. Hanahan was also among the first to demonstrate that the tumor microenvironment is a barrier to antitumor cytotoxic T-cell activity. Further, he helped establish the concept that inflammation can be tumorigenic and explored the tumor-promoting functions of tumor-infiltrating immune cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, vascular cells, and extracellular proteases.
In collaboration with the late Judah Folkman, MD, Dr. Hanahan co-discovered the “angiogenic switch,” a key process in tumor growth. This fundamental work led to critical insights into therapeutic strategies for targeting tumor angiogenesis, such as the identification of unexpected adaptive resistance mechanisms, which illuminated why some monotherapies exhibit limited clinical efficacy. More recently, he has demonstrated the potential of angiogenesis inhibitors in co-targeting treatment strategies. Additionally, his latest research has profoundly contributed to cancer-related neuroscience by revealing the functional importance of co-opted neuronal signaling pathways in cancer cell invasion, metastasis, and immune evasion.
Professional Awards and Training
Dr. Hanahan has been a member of the AACR since 2000 and was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2014. His scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the AACR Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), the Fondazione San Salvatore Award for Cancer Research (2012), and the National Cancer Association of France Grand Prize for Biology (1993). He is also an elected foreign member of the Royal Society (2023) and an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (2010), the National Academy of Sciences (2009), the National Academy of Medicine (2008), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2007).
Dr. Hanahan earned his undergraduate degree in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in biophysics at Harvard University.
