At the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022, Elaine S. Jaffe, MD, received the inaugural AACR James S. Ewing–Thelma B. Dunn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pathology in Cancer Research.
The AACR established this new award to honor pathologists who continue to build upon the legacies of James S. Ewing, MD, and Thelma B. Dunn, MD. Two quintessential pioneers of cancer pathology, Dr. Ewing served as the AACR’s first president, and Dr. Dunn was the organization’s first female president. This award in their honor recognizes and celebrates pathologists who have significantly contributed to advancing cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Funding for this new award is provided by an unrestricted educational grant from Pharmacyclics, an AbbVie Company, and Janssen Biotech Inc.
Elaine S. Jaffe, MD
Career Accomplishments
Dr. Jaffe is Head of the Hematopathology Section of the Laboratory of Pathology at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Distinguished Investigator. She was recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to the pathologic diagnosis and pathogenesis of hematologic neoplasms and her discoveries of multiple novel pathologic entities.
Of the many achievements throughout her career, Dr. Jaffe is most widely known for her early discovery of the differences between B cells and T cells, and for her early work that helped to provide a deeper understanding of the origin of lymphomas. She helped update the way lymphomas are diagnosed by integrating traditional pathology with immunologic and genomic approaches.
During her tenure as President of the Society for Hematopathology, Dr. Jaffe successfully led the classification initiative to standardize the diagnostic criteria for lymphoma and leukemia. Her leadership helped to build an international consensus on the issue, which became known as the Revised European-American Classification of Lymphoid Neoplasms (REAL). REAL was eventually ratified by the World Health Organization and, to this day, remains the gold standard in hematopathology.
Dr. Jaffe is also a devoted educator and mentor. She received the Outstanding Mentor Award in 2001 from the NCI and the Distinguished Clinical Teacher award in 2006 from the NIH Clinical Fellows Committee. According to the NIH, more than 75% of fellows graduating from her program stay in the field of academic medicine.
