Bert Vogelstein, MD, the Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology and Director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, received the Warren Triennial Prize of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), recognized for his work in cancer genetics.
Vogelstein and his colleagues demonstrated that colorectal tumors result from the gradual accumulation of alterations in specific oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes, and were also the first to map cancer genomes and use genome-wide sequencing to identify the basis of a hereditary disease. The team determined the genetic landscape of more than a dozen tumor types.
"Dr. Vogelstein is a legend in the field of cancer research who has pioneered some of the fundamental concepts that underlie our understanding of how cancer arises, how it can be detected, and how it should be treated with increasingly targeted therapies," MGH Cancer Center Director Daniel A. Haber, MD, said in a news release. "The scope of his research contributions is exceptional, as is its impact. Just as significantly, he has trained and mentored generations of young scientists who are now making their own important contributions to the field."
The award is the top scientific prize presented by MGH, which honors scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the fields related to medicine. The Warren Prize includes a cash award of $50,000, and is awarded every three years.
Susan T. Mayne, PhD, the C.-E.A. Winslow Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Director for Population Sciences at Yale Cancer Center and Chair of the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health, has been appointed Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration. This center is responsible for promoting and protecting the public's health by ensuring that the nation's food supply is safe, sanitary, wholesome, and honestly labeled, and that cosmetic products are safe and properly labeled.
"Dr. Mayne's leadership has been invaluable in the growth and evolution of Yale Cancer Center," Yale Cancer Center Director Thomas J. Lynch, MD, said in a news release. "It is a testament to her research excellence and exceptional leadership that she has been given this new opportunity to apply her expertise to significant public health issues at the national level."
Mayne has been at Yale since 1987, first as a post-doctoral Fellow, and as Director of the Cancer Center's Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program from 1993 to 2010, and as Associate Director for Population Sciences since 1995. Mayne has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Cancer Institute; and she has also led a competitively funded cooperative training program in cancer epidemiology and genetics with the NCI since 2003.
Rengaswamy
Sankaranarayanan, MD, Special Advisor on Cancer Control and Head of the Early Detection and Prevention Section at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, has received the 2014 Lalla Salma Foundation International Award for his contribution to the early detection and prevention of cervical cancer around the world and in developing countries. Princess Lalla Salma of Morocco presented the prize, which was established in 2008 by the Lalla Salma Foundation to scientists of international renown who have made a major scientific discovery or a significant contribution to the fight against cancer.
Sankaranarayanan has extensive international experience in evaluating and disseminating a variety of early-detection strategies for major cancers (such as cervical, breast, colorectal, and head and neck cancers) and in providing wide-ranging technical assistance in education, training, and organizational aspects of early-detection programs in low- and medium-resource countries.
The Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas has awarded approximately $4 million in grants to these two researchers at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio:
* Rong Li, PhD, Professor of Molecular Medicine, for his proposal to harness the potential anti-tumor activity of a drug currently being developed to treat hot flashes, as well as to create other agents that will help the drug work with greater precision; and
* Ratna Vadlamudi, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, for a proposal to develop a drug to prevent the development of drug resistance in breast cancers.
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center's Breast Cancer Program has received a $1.7 million grant from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, which will be awarded over five years to fund educational programs, enhance support, and increase awareness for young women diagnosed with breast cancer.
"We have recognized the urgent need for a specialty clinic for young women diagnosed with breast cancer, as their needs are unique and must be addressed in a dedicated and coordinated way," Vered Stearns, MD, Co-director of the Breast Cancer Program, Professor of Oncology, and Breast Cancer Research Chair in Oncology at JHKCC, said in a news release. "The funds provided by the CDC will allow us to extend our pilot efforts to reach a larger proportion of young women in more comprehensive ways, providing not only treatment of their disease, but also care for them as individuals-whether they're going to school, building careers, or raising families."
Also at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, the following grants have been awarded from the Komen Foundation:
* Vered Stearns, MD, who is also a Komen Scholar, has received $175,000 in continued funding for her studies of patients' levels of the enzyme CYP2D6 or other proteins, and their effect of response to tamoxifen and other hormone therapies; and
* Antonio Wolff, MD, Professor in Oncology at JHKCC and a Komen Scholar, has received $62,500 to create a prospective, annotated repository of high-quality tissue and blood samples that will be linked to clinical data, which is intended to be used to help plan improved diagnostic tests and support studies testing new treatment options.
In addition, Ravi Varadhan, PhD, has been appointed Associate Professor of Oncology in the Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics. He also has joint appointments at the Johns Hopkins Center on Aging and Health and in the Department of Biostatistics and in the Center for Drug Safety and Effectiveness at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ravi will be collaborating with the clinical researchers in the Program on Hematologic Malignancies and Bone Marrow Transplant, and will provide biostatistical expertise for the design and analysis of clinical trials, retrospective studies, and laboratory studies.
The American Society of Hematology has awarded seven new Bridge Grant awards to provide interim support for hematology research projects that, despite earning high scores, could not be funded by the National Institutes of Health amid federal funding reductions. The grants are each one-year, $150,000 awards.
"The ASH Bridge Grant program is designed to help bridge talented hematology investigators to their next NIH research grant by funding their efforts to gather additional data to ultimately strengthen their next application," ASH President Linda J. Burns, MD, said in a news release. "While ASH is fortunate to be able to provide researchers with the resources they desperately require, we hope that lawmakers understand the urgent need to directly invest in research so scientists will not have to worry about whether they can sustain their projects and staff for another year."
The seven most recent ASH Bridge Grant recipients are:
* Diane F. Jelinek, PhD, of Mayo Clinic;
* Mark Y. Chiang, MD, PhD, of University of Michigan;
* Fotis Asimakopoulos, MD, PhD, of University of Wisconsin;
* Tatiana V. Byzova, PhD, of Cleveland Clinic Foundation;
* Frits van Rhee, MD, PhD, of University of Arkansas;
* W. Stratford May, MD, PhD, of University of Florida; and
* Lisa Borghesi, PhD, of University of Pittsburgh.
Chunlei Jin, MD, PhD, of the Department of Pediatrics Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has received the Young Investigator Award for Sarcoma Research from the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer & AIDS Research and Global Action Platform. The award included a $100,000 prize, which was presented to Jin at the Global Action Summit, which took place at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Jin's research focuses on the mechanism of tumor metastasis in osteosarcoma.
Share Your News!
Send information and photos for this column to mailto:[email protected]