Recently in Recognition and Awards Category

  MD Anderson scientists Jim Allison and Hagop Kantarjian, at left, and Guillermina Lozano and Gabriel Hortobagyi, at right, won four of 14 individual awards for senior scientists at the AAACR Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C.

Highlights

Scientists and clinicians from across MD Anderson presented their latest research findings at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 in Washington, D.C. 

A record six scientists, from post-doctoral fellows to junior faculty to senior investigators, won awards at the meeting run by the American Association for Cancer Research, the oldest and largest organization dedicated to cancer research in the world.

By the numbers, MD Anderson faculty members, post-docs and graduate students presented (follow link to Advanced Search, type MD Anderson in institution box):

• 160 research posters in 152 poster sessions.
• 25 oral presentations or invited talks
• 10 educational sessions
• 4 lectures tied to major awards.

Highlighted work included research by Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology, showing that low bilirubin levels in the blood are a sign of high risk for lung cancer among male smokers.

Elsa Flores, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Her presentations included one that shows p63 and p73 can provide back-up tumor suppression when their more famous sibling, p53, is inactivated.  However, they also need to be protected from themselves or they might shut down all three tumor-blocking genes.

Ellen Gritz, Ph.D., chair and professor of the Department of Behavioral Sciences, co-authored a new AACR statement urging physicians to more closely monitor their patients' tobacco use and to provide smoking cessation information during clinical visits. 

By Will Fitzgerald, MD Anderson Staff Writer

Fifty years from now when an author is compiling a review of modern cancer therapy for a historical publication, he'll undoubtedly recognize the accomplishments of Gabriel Hortobagyi, M.D., a visionary cancer physician and researcher whose discoveries saved countless women from breast cancer.

He first became familiar with the disease walking the hallways of an Ohio hospital during his internal medicine residency. Hortobagyi was intrigued by the opportunity to help patients conquer a disease that posed more questions than answers.  More than 40 years later, this pursuit still passionately consumes his career as a physician in MD Anderson's Department of Breast Medical Oncology and through collaborations around the world.

Today, at the 35th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, Hortobagyi was presented with the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award for his outstanding achievements.

"It's very humbling and gratifying to be selected by one's peers because everyone on the selection committee is a very accomplishment individual," Hortobagyi said.  "It's very meaningful for me, and, of course, it's recognition of our group's accomplishments."

 

Updated Dec. 3, 2012

MD Anderson has six new Fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected by their peers to a scientific organization that dates to 1874.

"Election as an AAAS Fellow is wonderful recognition of scientific excellence and leadership by the people who know best - colleagues, collaborators and competitors in the field," said Thomas Buchholz, M.D., interim provost and executive vice president at MD Anderson.

MD Anderson now has 20 AAAS Fellows on its faculty. The newest are:

• Sharon Dent, Ph.D., professor and chair of MD Anderson's Department of Molecular Carcinogenesis
• Elizabeth Grimm, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology
• Raghu Kalluri, Ph.D.,  professor and chair, Cancer Biology.
• Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Leukemia
• Bill Plunkett, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics. Biological Sciences. 
• Anil Sood, M.D., professor in the departments of Gynecological Medical Oncology and Cancer Biology.
  

The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society.The nonprofit AAAS publishes the journals Science, Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education and other efforts.

MD Anderson news release and photos

A creative plan to identify new drugs to prevent cancer has earned an MD Anderson scientist a prominent national award to support her research.

Guang Peng,  M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention, is the winner of the Fifth Annual Landon Foundation-AACR INNOVATOR Award for Cancer Prevention Research.

The American Association for Cancer Research will honor Peng and the Landon award winners for personalized cancer medicine and international collaboration at a reception and dinner tonight during the AACR's annual meeting in Chicago.

"Guang Peng is a superstar, a force to reckon with in cancer prevention," says Powel Brown, M.D., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Clinical Cancer Prevention.  "Her enthusiasm is boundless and infectious.  Most importantly, she's an outstanding basic scientist who is devoted to cancer prevention. 

"She brings a fresh approach and new creativity to the field," Brown said.  "It's a delight to work with her."

The American Association for Cancer Research will present its sixth annual AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research to John Mendelsohn, M.D., at the association's annual meeting opening session this Sunday in Chicago.

Mendelsohn is co-director of MD Anderson's Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy (IPCT) and was president of MD Anderson from 1996 to 2011.

The award, announced today, recognizes a person who has had a major impact by conducting or supporting cancer research. 

"Dr. Mendelsohn was a pioneer in the area of targeted cancer therapies, specifically working with EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "The AACR commends him for his groundbreaking research on targeted therapy, which opened the door to a new way of thinking about cancer and its treatment. In addition, Dr. Mendelsohn is both a nationally and internationally recognized leader in cancer policy."

 

The award is named for Foti, who has been chief executive officer of AACR, the world's oldest and largest cancer professional organization, since 1982.

MD Anderson researchers followed a surprising clue to discover that a known cancer-fighting protein also limits the growth of cells damaged by reactive oxygen species, one type of the highly reactive molecules known as free radicals.

Their groundbreaking paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences won the Cozzarelli Prize Tuesday as the best paper in the Biological Sciences category published in the Proceedings during 2010. The prizes are given to the top paper in six categories out of more than 3,700 studies published by the journal each year.

Cheryl Walker's research team was studying one tumor-suppressing protein when they found another protective protein known to work inside the cell nucleus moonlighting in another part of the cell.