The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has awarded the 59th AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award to Elaine Fuchs, PhD. The award was presented during the AACR Annual Meeting 2019. Dr. Fuchs delivered her award lecture, “Stem Cells in Wound Repair, Inflammation, and Cancer,” at the Georgia World Congress Center. Dr. Fuchs is the Rebecca C. Lancefield Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at The Rockefeller University in New York.
Elaine Fuchs, PhD
The AACR and Eli Lilly and Company established the AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award in 1961 to honor Dr. G.H.A. Clowes, who was a founding member of the AACR and Research Director of Eli Lilly. This award serves to honor Dr. Clowes’ legacy by recognizing an individual with outstanding accomplishments in basic cancer research.
Research Interests
Dr. Fuchs is recognized for her work in characterizing how normal skin stem cells maintain homeostasis, participate in wound repair, and contribute to cancer onset and progression. Collectively, her seminal research has greatly contributed to the understanding of mammalian skin; skin stem cells; and skin-related diseases, particularly proinflammatory disorders and cancer.
Dr. Fuchs is also highly regarded for her studies involving reverse genetics geared toward understanding the fundamental processes governing both normal and abnormal skin development and function. Among her research discoveries is the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the ability of skin stem cells to produce the epidermis and its appendages, including hair follicles as well as sweat and oil glands. She has also extensively defined how normal skin stem cell biology can be deregulated in skin cancers and other hyperproliferative disorders of the skin.
Professional Experience
In addition to her position at The Rockefeller University, Dr. Fuchs is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Before joining The Rockefeller University in 2002, she was the Amgen Professor of Basic Sciences at the University of Chicago.
Dr. Fuchs was named one of the inaugural Fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013. ■
