Honoring Scientific Achievement

John M. Carethers, MD

University of California San Diego
San Diego, California

For leading-edge findings involving colorectal cancer pathogenesis in patients with DNA mismatch repair defects, groundbreaking genetic cohort studies defining colon cancer disparity outcomes, and for uncovering that colon cancer patients of African American descent often present with elevated levels of the EMAST biomarker commonly associated with poor prognosis.

Craig M. Crews, PhD

Yale School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut

For trailblazing research involving the use of small molecules to manipulate intracellular protein levels via targeted protein degradation, pioneering the development of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs), and leading critical investigations concerning synthetic proteasome inhibitors such as carfilzomib, approved for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Benjamin L. Ebert, MD, PhD

Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Boston, Massachusetts

For seminal contributions to elucidating the mechanism of action of thalidomide analogs in multiple myeloma, characterizing 5q deletions in myelodysplastic syndrome, defining the importance of age-related clonal hematopoiesis in carcinogenesis, and providing critical insights into targeted protein degradation as a therapeutic strategy.

Silvia C. Formenti, MD

New York-Presbyterian Hospital
New York, New York

For instrumental studies demonstrating that radiotherapy contributes to immune rejection of cancer by functioning as in-situ vaccine, uncovering the role of radiation field, dose and fractionation, and translating these findings to clinical trials.

Susan M. Galbraith, MBBChir, PhD

AstraZeneca
Cambridge, United Kingdom

For visionary contributions to the clinical development of several cancer medicines, including ipilimumab, the first immune checkpoint inhibitor; nivolumab, the first PD1 inhibitor in multiple indications; olaparib, the first PARP inhibitor; osimertinib for lung cancer; durvalumab for multiple cancers; tremelimumab for lung and hepatocellular cancers; savolitinib for lung cancer; acalabrutinib for chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and capivasertib for breast cancer.

Richard D. Gelber, PhD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts

For celebrated contributions to improving patient care through his development of innovative biostatistical methodologies including the Quality-adjusted Time Without Symptoms of disease and Toxicity of treatment (Q-TWiST) and Subpopulation Treatment Effect Pattern Plot (STEPP) methods that have had a profound impact on treatment efficacy and patient outcomes, and his leadership of biostatistical collaborations on practice-changing clinical trials in breast cancer, pediatric leukemia and pediatric AIDS.

Gad Getz, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts

For fundamental contributions to cancer genomics, including developing analytical tools for somatic mutation detection, establishing gene mutation signatures as fundamental pillars of cancer evolution, and creating statistical and computational methodologies by which to characterize cancer heterogeneity, point mutations and copy number variations, and identify novel cancer drivers.

Todd R. Golub, MD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Cambridge, Massachusetts

For lauded research contributions that have revolutionized cancer biology and treatment, including pioneering the use of DNA chips to identify leukemia-specific genetic fingerprints and developing several innovative methods to analyze cancer gene expression, including Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), now frequently used to characterize tumors and inform treatment decisions.

Margaret A. Goodell, PhD

Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, Texas

For invaluable contributions to elucidating the role of interferons in coordinating hematopoietic regeneration from stem cells in response to stress and pathogens, discovering the critical role that methylation plays in hematopoietic stem cell regeneration and expansion, and establishing DNMT3A as a master epigenetic regulator and tumor suppressor in the hematopoietic system.

Nathanael S. Gray, PhD

Stanford University
Stanford, California

For pioneering innovative structure-based chemical biology approaches to designing and developing protein inhibitors and degraders that have transformed the future of cancer therapeutics, and for spearheading novel combinatorial chemistry and genomic approaches that have resulted in the development of several cancer therapies, including ceritinib, asciminib, and osimertinib.

Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD

Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

For steadfast contributions to elucidating the significance of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in lung cancer etiology and treatment, codiscovering novel EGFR mutations responsible for lung cancer progression, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance, and establishing irreversible pyrimidine inhibitors as plausible lung cancer drug targets, leading to the development and approval of osimertinib.

Johanna A. Joyce, PhD

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Lausanne, Switzerland

For profound contributions and insights into the evolution of the immune tumor microenvironment during cancer development and metastasis, revealing the immense complexity of the brain tumor microenvironment, elucidating mechanisms by which altered tumor microenvironments confer resistance to diverse therapies, and uncovering effective combination therapies targeting different cell types in the tumor microenvironment.

David Malkin, MD

University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario

For unparalleled contributions to the understanding of pediatric cancer genetic predisposition syndromes, elucidating the role of germline TP53 mutations in Li-Fraumeni syndrome, optimizing pediatric cancer patient clinical surveillance protocols, and improving precision pediatric oncology through novel clinical trials involving adolescents and young adults with rare and difficult to treat cancers.

John M. Maris, MD

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For paramount pediatric cancer research resulting in the discovery of the genetic basis of neuroblastoma, elucidation of its molecular pathogenesis, development of novel methods for immunotherapy target discovery, and establishment of anti-tumor peptide-centric chimeric antigen receptors across multiple human leukocyte antigen alleles in neuroblastoma and other childhood cancers, overcoming the challenge of targeting intracellular proteins.

Miriam Merad, MD, PhD

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York

For heralded contributions in elucidating the roles of myeloid cells in inflammation and tumorigenesis and paving the way for the advancement of targeted therapies focusing on myeloid cells in both cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD

Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

For revered contributions to cancer research, including discovering key lung cancer driver mutations, developing innovative single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays and single-template sequencing for human cancer genome analysis, and pioneering novel gene sequencing-based therapeutic strategies and molecular diagnostic assays that have since been commercialized and globally adopted.

Roeland Nusse, PhD

Stanford University
Stanford, California

For unrivaled investigations involving the Wnt signaling pathway, including the initial discovery and purification of Wnt family proteins, and for subsequently unraveling their significance in physiological development, stem cell biology, tissue regeneration, and carcinogenesis.

David Pellman, MD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

For illustrious contributions to the understanding of cell division including spindle assembly and positioning, asymmetric cell division, and cytokinesis, which, when aberrant, contribute to genomic instability, for developing novel technologies such as combining long term live cell microscopy and single-cell genome sequencing, and for identifying mechanisms driving the rapid evolution of cancer genomes.

Steven Piantadosi, MD, PhD

Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

For vital large-scale and cross-disciplinary led initiatives that have resulted in the establishment and optimization of innovative biostatistical, translational oncology, and early clinical trial methodologies that have become benchmarks in the field and continue to be featured in “Clinical Trials: A Methodologic Perspective,” widely considered a foundational textbook for clinical trial design.

Lori J. Pierce, MD

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan

For illuminating contributions to establishing radiotherapy in the multimodality treatment of breast cancer, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy for node-positive breast cancer and incorporation of radiosensitizing agents, which have collectively resulted in improved treatment outcomes for breast cancer patients with cancers of all molecular subtypes.

Timothy R. Rebbeck, PhD

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, Massachusetts

For groundbreaking contributions to precision prevention of cancer in clinical practice by characterizing the role of pathogenic variants in cancer risk and outcomes, and for generating foundational knowledge and approaches toward understanding and eliminating cancer health disparities in the global African Diaspora.

John T. Schiller, PhD

National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, Maryland

For championed research that has reduced the incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers through the elucidation of HPV virion assembly and infection mechanisms, determining how virus-like particle vaccine-induced antibodies prevent infection and tumorigenesis, and demonstrating that introduction of short viral protein fragments can induce anti-tumor immune responses.

Padmanee Sharma, MD, PhD

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas

For remarkable contributions to the establishment of immune checkpoint therapies and vaccine technologies, identifying novel alternative checkpoints governing treatment response and resistance, and translating such findings into clinical trials involving immunotherapy combinations designed to improve the standard of care for renal cell carcinoma and bladder cancer patients.

Lillian L. Siu, MD

University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario

For critical and innovative research dedicated to optimizing clinical trial design and execution resulting in accelerated discovery and development of tumor immunotherapies, and for extraordinary leadership in driving the advancement of novel and personalized therapeutics for patients with head and neck cancers as well as gastrointestinal malignancies.

Selwyn M. Vickers, MD

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York

For seminal contributions to characterizing and targeting pancreas cancer metastasis, development of oncolytic adenoviruses capable of inhibiting pancreas tumor stem cells, and instrumental efforts to develop and evaluate the efficacy of minnelide, a synthetic prodrug of the diterpene triepoxide triptolide, as a pro-apoptotic chemotherapeutic for the treatment of pancreas and hepatocellular carcinoma.

E. John Wherry, PhD

University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For unparalleled research discoveries that have defined the genetic and epigenetic control mechanisms governing T-cell exhaustion, and for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying PDL-1 blockade, resulting in the clinical development of various immunotherapies, including several FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies for multiple cancer indications.