Honoring Scientific Achievement

Julian Downward, PhD

The Francis Crick Institute
London, United Kingdom

For pioneering research leading to the discovery of the epithelial growth factor receptor as the ErbB oncogene product, paving the way for development of drugs targeting EGFR and ErbB2/HER2 in lung, colon, and breast cancers; and for defining RAS/RAF and RAS/PI3K signaling pathways as critical drivers of cancer cell growth.

Laura J. Esserman, MD, MBA

University of California
San Francisco, California

For steadfast commitment to breast cancer research; her pivotal role as the architect of the Athena Breast Health Network, which gave rise to the WISDOM study, a trial of annual vs. personalized screening and prevention that has enrolled over 50,000 women; for the development of new and improved methods to classify tumor subtypes and determine optimal treatment escalation and/or de-escalation; and for visionary leadership of the I-SPY2 adaptive neoadjuvant platform trial for women with stage 2/3 breast cancer—the longest-running platform trial in cancer—which has tested 24 agent combinations over 12 years.

Keith T. Flaherty, MD

Harvard Medical School
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

For groundbreaking translational discoveries and seminal contributions to the development of vemurafenib and other therapeutic agents for the treatment of melanoma, translating investigations of the BRAF V600E somatic mutation in cancer into effective therapies, including the FDA-approved five-drug series for melanoma.

Andy Futreal, PhD

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

For unrivaled research efforts involving large-scale systematic cancer genomics that identified breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility genes and multiple human cancer genes, notably the landmark discovery of BRAF mutations in melanoma—a discovery that led to the development and rapid approval of the first effective targeted therapy for advanced melanoma.

Judy Lieberman, MD, PhD

Harvard Medical School
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

For fundamental research contributions to the field of cancer immunology that have contributed to understanding cytotoxic T lymphocytes, key effector cells in antitumor immunity; for the discovery of T-cell exhaustion in humans; and for innovative work describing the molecular basis of inflammatory cell death (pyroptosis) that is immunogenic and may be exploited to enhance antitumor immunity.

Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc)

Yale Cancer Center
Smilow Cancer Hospital
New Haven, Connecticut

For unrivaled clinical cancer research contributions including expertly and extensively designing and executing innovative early-phase clinical trials; and for improving therapeutic outcomes to not only reduce mortality rates, but also enhance the quality of life for patients with cancer.

Luis F. Parada, PhD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York

For illuminating research contributions involving the integration of molecular genetics, embryonic development, and signal transduction to understand nervous system tumors; and for pioneering the development of mouse models specifically designed for the investigation and development of glioblastoma multiforme therapies.

Dana Pe’er, PhD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York

For fundamental contributions to the development of computational methods and algorithms that, when combined with high throughput experimental techniques, have provided key insights into the impact of genetic aberrations on molecular networks responsible for the onset and progression of various cancer malignancies.

Charles M. Perou, PhD

University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

For laudable research contributions that have led to the identification of intrinsic breast cancer subtypes, including the basal-like/triple-negative breast cancer subtype; and for the development of clinical diagnostic tests that are now widely used to stratify breast cancer patients based on the molecular characteristics of their tumors.

Helen Piwnica-Worms, PhD

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

For outstanding efforts dedicated to the identification of protein kinases and phosphatases that regulate CDK1; the discovery that Wee1 directly phosphorylates and inhibits CDK1, revealing that CHK1 can be targeted by the synthetic derivative of staurosporine, UCN-01; and for the discovery of signaling pathways involving 14-3-3 proteins responsible for cell cycle checkpoint control.

Thomas M. Roberts, PhD

Harvard Medical School
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts

For instrumental contributions to elucidating the tyrosine kinase signaling pathways critical for tumorigenesis, with particular emphasis on PI3K; and for ushering in the age of precision medicine through fundamental discoveries of signaling mechanisms capable of regulating cell growth, knowledge that has been subsequently applied to the development of transformative cancer therapies.

Erkki Ruoslahti, MD, PhD

Sanford Burnham Prebys
La Jolla, California

For paramount discoveries involving the mechanisms of cellular adhesion; for the co-discovery of fibronectin, the discovery of the fibronectin RGD cell attachment sequence, homing peptides, and tumor-penetrating peptides; and for the development of therapeutics for vascular thrombosis and cancer.

Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York

For unparalleled contributions to the conceptualization and optimization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, including engineering CARs that provide enhanced proliferation, survival, and potency to T cells, identifying CD19 as a target for CAR therapy, and designing CD19 CAR therapies for patients with relapsed, refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Kevan M. Shokat, PhD

University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California

For revolutionary discoveries in the field of chemical genetics, including pioneering work to develop the first covalent inhibitors of KRAS G12C capable of therapeutically targeting a once-undruggable oncogene, which led to clinical trials involving various cohorts of lung, colon, and pancreas cancer patients and which notably expanded the armamentarium of available agents to combat cancer.

Andreas Strasser, PhD

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Parkville, Victoria, Australia

For trailblazing research devoted to identifying connections between apoptosis, autoimmunity, and cancer, including genetic studies that established BCL-2-related BH3-only proteins as being vital for inducing mitochondrial apoptosis; and for demonstrating that dysregulation of apoptosis can lead to cancer, autoimmune disease, and impaired therapeutic responses in cancer cells.

Jean Y. J. Wang, PhD

University of California San Diego School of Medicine
La Jolla, California

For critical research that has been vital to elucidating the mechanisms by which cells respond to various intracellular and extracellular stimuli, including how cancer cells manage to evade such signals to avoid cell death; and for efforts to define the various cellular functions of the c-Abl tyrosine kinase proto-oncogene and the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein.

Robert A. Winn, MD

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Richmond, Virginia

For heralded contributions to lung cancer research, cancer and health disparities, and community-based health care, including characterizing the molecular mechanisms that drive cellular proliferation and the role of senescence in lung cancer; and for dedicated efforts to champion health equity and access to care among underserved, high-risk cancer populations.

Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD

Weill Cornell Medicine
New York, New York

For illustrious contributions to novel cancer immunotherapy strategies, such as demonstrating the benefits of checkpoint inhibitor therapy in melanoma; and for leading several pivotal clinical trials, including the phase I clinical trial for ipilimumab and the phase III clinical trial involving the combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab.

Catherine J. Wu, MD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

For groundbreaking discoveries involving immunogenic antigen targets; for developing genomic-guided immunotherapy and neoantigen-targeting cancer vaccines; and for translating these research findings into early-phase clinical trials designed to ascertain the clinical viability of personalized tumor vaccines in melanoma and glioblastoma patients.