Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR
The 2025 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was presented to Rakesh K. Jain, PhD, FAACR, during the 2025 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in Chicago. This award honors individuals who have made significant fundamental contributions to cancer research, either through a single scientific discovery or a body of work. These contributions, whether in research, leadership, or mentorship, must have had a lasting impact on the cancer field and demonstrate a person’s lifetime commitment to progress against cancer.
Dr. Jain is Director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Andrew Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School. He was recognized for his lifelong achievements and pioneering contributions that have transformed the scientific understanding of the tumor microenvironment and its role in cancer progression and treatment. Of note, his groundbreaking hypothesis of vascular normalization reshaped the use of antiangiogenic therapy. Dr. Jain’s celebrated mentorship and leadership have inspired countless scientists, clinicians, and physician-scientists.
Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc)
“Through his interdisciplinary approach to research, Dr. Jain has fundamentally changed our scientific understanding of tumor biology and thus has greatly advanced cancer research, improved treatments, and saved lives,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer of the AACR. “In addition, his dedication to championing the next generation of cancer researchers is an inspiration. The AACR is thrilled to celebrate and honor Dr. Jain with this richly deserved award.”
Decades of Cancer Research
For more than 40 years, Dr. Jain has championed the notion that solid tumors are complex organs and not simply a collection of cancerous cells. Underscoring this idea was his seminal discovery that abnormal blood and lymphatic vessels within tumors promote disease progression and restrict the delivery and efficacy of cancer therapeutics. Based on these findings, Dr. Jain hypothesized that antiangiogenic drugs, originally designed to destroy blood vessels, could transiently remodel blood vessels to normal states and improve the delivery and efficacy of chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Various preclinical experiments in his laboratory supported this hypothesis, and subsequent clinical trials led by Dr. Jain and his clinical collaborators confirmed that antiangiogenic agents improve the efficacy of various therapeutics, including immunotherapies, resulting in the FDA approval of several combinations involving antiangiogenic agents.
Further, Dr. Jain designed a week-long intensive course on “Critical Issues in Tumor Microenvironment: Angiogenesis, Metastasis, and Immunology” to foster discussions among cancer researchers, physical scientists/engineers, and clinicians regarding the importance of the tumor microenvironment in tumor progression and treatment. Now in its 40th year, this course is ranked among the top courses offered by the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Medical Education.
Professional Honors and Accomplishments
Dr. Jain has been a member of the AACR since 1979 and was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2020. He was awarded the AACR–Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship (2014). Dr. Jain has helped shape many of the AACR’s committees, association groups, and meetings. He has served as Chair (2022–2023) and member (2014, 2011) of the AACR–Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship Committee; member of the AACR–Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Lectureship Committee (2018); and member of the AACR Gertrude B. Elion Young Investigator Award Committee (2010). He is a former member of the AACR Publications Committee (2018) and the AACR Clinical and Translational Cancer Research Grants Scientific Review Committee (2016).
Dr. Jain’s scientific accomplishments have been celebrated with numerous awards and honors throughout his career. In 2016, President Barack Obama presented Dr. Jain with the U.S. National Medal of Science in a White House ceremony. Other recent honors include the National Foundation for Cancer Research Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research (2023); the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Cozzarelli Prize (2023); the North American Vascular Biology Organization Earl P. Benditt Award (2018); the American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research Lifetime Achievement Award (2017); the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund International Lectureship (2016); the ASCO Science of Oncology Award and Lecture (2012); and the American Society for Investigative Pathology Rous-Whipple Award (2011).
Dr. Jain earned his undergraduate degree at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, and his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Delaware, all with a focus on chemical engineering.
