The Scientific Advisory Committee is dedicated to seeking out the most innovative and promising cancer research projects for funding by Stand Up To Cancer. Committee members were selected from among the most highly accomplished, world-class scientists representing several research disciplines in order to provide an expert and comprehensive perspective, and the patient advocates serving on the Committee were elected by the Advocate Advisory Council. The scientific oversight provided by the Scientific Advisory Committee is critical to achieve Stand Up To Cancer's mission to translate the most promising cancer research into real advances in cancer diagnosis, treatment, and prevention as quickly as possible.
Scientific Advisory Committee Bios
Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D., Chairperson
Institute Professor
David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
A world leader of research in molecular biology and biochemistry, Dr. Phillip A. Sharp is Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Dr. Sharp earned a B.A. degree from Union College, KY in 1966, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1969. He did his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology, where he studied the molecular biology of plasmids, and then studied gene expression in human cells at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory under James Watson. Much of Dr. Sharp's scientific work has been conducted at MIT's Center for Cancer Research, which he joined in 1974.
Dr. Sharp's research interests have centered on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His landmark achievement was the discovery of RNA splicing in 1977. The discovery that genes contain nonsense segments that are edited out by cells in the course of utilizing genetic information is important in understanding the genetic causes of cancer and other diseases. For this work he received the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His lab has now turned its attention to understanding how RNA molecules act as switches to turn genes on and off (RNA interference). These newly discovered processes have revolutionized cell biology and could potentially generate a new class of therapeutics.
Dr. Sharp has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, and has served on many advisory boards for the government, academic institutions, scientific societies, and companies. In addition to the Nobel Prize, his awards include the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award, the National Medal of Science for Biological Sciences and the inaugural Double Helix Medal from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Sharp co-founded Biogen (now Biogen Idec), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, an early-stage therapeutics company and Magen Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company developing agents to promote the health of human skin.
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Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., Vice Chairperson
Vice Chairperson
Professor
Institute for Advanced Study and Cancer
Institute of New Jersey
Princeton, NJ
Arnold J. Levine is a Professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study and leads The Simons Center for Systems Biology at the Institute. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in 1966 and did his postdoctoral training at the California Institute of Technology.
Dr. Levine's research focuses on the causes of cancer. In 1979, he and others discovered the p53 tumor suppressor protein, a molecule that inhibits tumor development. At the Institute for Advanced Study, he established the Center for Systems Biology, which concentrates on research at the interface of molecular biology and the physical sciences — on genetics and genomics, polymorphisms and molecular aspects of evolution, signal transduction pathways and networks, stress responses, and pharmacogenomics in cancer biology.
In 2001, Dr. Levine was named the first winner of the $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research for his discovery of a gene that normally protects against cancer but fails when a tiny change occurs in the gene. He was awarded two medals in 2000 for Outstanding Contributions to Biomedical Research by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Keio Medical Science Prize from Keio University Medical Science Fund. He was awarded the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research in 2008. As chair of the National Institutes of Health Commission on AIDS Research and the National Academies Cancer Policy Board, Dr. Levine has helped determine national research priorities.
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William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.
Director
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., is the Marion I. Knott Director and Professor of Oncology and Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He earned his medical degree and Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He went on to pursue Internal Medicine residency training and Medical Oncology fellowship training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a Professor of Oncology, Urology, Pharmacology, Medicine, Pathology, and Radiation Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with a Joint Appointment in Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Nelson directs a translational research laboratory focused on discovering new strategies for prostate cancer treatment and prevention, and manages a clinical practice focused on developing these new treatment and prevention approaches in early "proof-of-principle" prostate clinical trials.
Dr. Nelson is a recognized leader in translational cancer research. He is one of three Co-Chairs of the National Cancer Institute Translational Research Working Group, which reported its findings to the National Cancer Advisory Board in June of 2007. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of several companies focused on the development of new technologies and treatments for human cancer and is the President of the National Coalition for Cancer Research. He has served as a member of the American Association of Cancer Research's Board of Directors, and on the Scientific Advisory Boards of the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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Julian Adams, Ph.D.
President of Research and Development
Chief Scientific Officer
Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Cambridge, MA
Dr. Julian Adams is the President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Adams received a B.S. from McGill University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of synthetic organic chemistry. Prior to joining Infinity, Dr. Adams was the Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery and Development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. In this capacity, he had global responsibility for multiple drug discovery programs, including the successful discovery and development of VELCADE®, a proteasome inhibitor for cancer therapy. Earlier in his career, Dr. Adams served in various positions at LeukoSite, ProScript, Inc., and Boehringer Ingelheim, where he successfully discovered the drug Viramune® for HIV.
Dr. Adams is an inventor of over 40 patents and has authored over 100 papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals, and is the editor of Proteasome Inhibition in Cancer Therapy published. He has received many awards, including the 2001 Ribbon of Hope Award for VELCADE® from the International Myeloma Foundation and the AACR-Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award.
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Angelika Amon, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Boston, MA
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Kenneth C. Anderson, M.D.
Director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
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Frederick R. Appelbaum, M.D.
Executive Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Director, Clinical Research Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Professor
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, WA
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Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Ph.D.
Morris Herzstein Professor
University of California, San Francisco
Mission Bay Campus
San Francisco, CA
Dr. Elizabeth H. Blackburn is the Morris Herzstein Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco and a non-resident fellow of the Salk Institute. Dr. Blackburn earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science at the University of Melbourne and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in England. She went on to do her postdoctoral study in molecular and cellular biology at Yale University, and in 1978 joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Molecular Biology. In 1990, she moved to the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she served as Department Chair from 1993 to 1999.
For more than a quarter century, Dr. Blackburn has been investigating the structure and role of telomeres. More recently, she has been applying her insights into telomere biology to the development of a new anti-cancer therapy that forces cells with active telomerase to make errors during telomere synthesis, effectively triggering cellular suicide.
Throughout her career, Dr. Blackburn has received many prestigious awards, including the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, the Eli Lilly Research Award for Microbiology and Immunology, the National Academy of Science Award in Molecular Biology, the Australia Prize, the Harvey Prize, the Keio Prize, the Lasker Award, AACR-G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award, American Cancer Society Medal of Honor, AACR-Pezcoller Foundation International Award for Cancer Research, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Award, E.B.Wil son Award of the American Society for Cell Biology, 26th Annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research, and the Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine. She was named California Scientist of the Year in 1999, served as President of the American Society for Cell Biology, and was elected to the American Association for Cancer Research's Board of Directors in 2006. Dr. Blackburn is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of London, the American Academy of Microbiology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Medicine.
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Richard B. Gaynor, M.D.
Vice President
Cancer Research and Clinical Investigation
Eli Lilly and Company
Indianapolis, IN
Dr. Richard B. Gaynor is the Vice President for Cancer Research and Clinical Investigation at Eli Lilly and Company. He received a bachelor of science degree in biology from Texas Tech University and a medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Dr. Gaynor went on to do his residency in internal medicine at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas and completed a fellowship in hematology-oncology at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine where he served on the faculty for 10 years.
Prior to joining Lilly, Dr. Gaynor was a professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas and held several important leadership positions. He was chief of the division of hematology at UTSW and director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center there in addition to his work as the Lisa K. Simmons Distinguished Chair in Comprehensive Oncology. He served on numerous NIH advisory committees and was elected to both the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Association of American Physicians.
Gaynor is on the editorial board of scientific journals and has an extensive publication record totaling more than 140 scientific articles. He serves on the board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Walther Cancer Institute and on several committees for the American Association of Cancer Research.
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Lee J. Helman, M.D.
Senior Investigator
National Cancer Institute
Bethesda, MD
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Waun Ki Hong, M.D.
Head, Division of Cancer Medicine
UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
Dr. Waun Ki Hong is the Head of the Division of Cancer Medicine at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Hong received his bachelor of science and medical degree at the Yon Sei University College of Engineering Science in Seoul, Korea. He went on to do his residency at the Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center and became a Medical Oncology Fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He joined M. D. Anderson in 1984 as chief of the Section of Head and Neck Medical Oncology, and became chair of the Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology in 1993.
Dr. Hong's research interest includes retinoids, genetic predisposition to disease, biological markers, and chemoprevention, particularly the area of translational aerodigestive cancer research. His major research focus is working to identify and develop effective novel personalized molecularly targeted preventive and therapeutic approaches in patients with aerodigestive cancers and/or identify high risk individuals to reduce incidence and mortality through an integrated translational research team effort.
Dr. Hong was recently appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board. In 1996, he became the first M. D. Anderson physician to receive an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship, a lifetime honor presented in recognition of his distinguished career. In 2001-2002, he served as president of the American Association for Cancer Research. His many honors for outstanding achievements in clinical research and patient care include: the AACR's Joseph H. Burchenal and the Rosenthal Foundation Awards; and the American Society of Clinical Oncology's most prestigious award, the David A. Karnofsky Award.
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Carl H. June, M.D.
Program Director
Translational Research, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute
Abramson Cancer Center of University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
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William G. Kaelin, Jr., M.D.
Professor
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Boston, MA
Dr. William G. Kaelin, Jr., is a Professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA. He received his medical degree from Duke University in 1982 and was a house officer in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He went on to become a medical oncology clinical fellow at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. David Livingston, where he began his studies of tumor suppressor proteins. He became an independent investigator at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 1992 as a James S. McDonnell Scholar and became a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator in 1998. Dr. Kaelin is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Senior Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Associate Director for Basic Research at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.
Dr. Kaelin's research interests have focused on tumor suppressor genes and the normal functions of the proteins they encode. The long-term goal of his work is to lay the foundation for the development of new anticancer therapies based on the functions of specific tumor suppressor proteins. His studies of tumor suppressor genes linked to hereditary forms of cancer have uncovered molecular pathways that are important in non-hereditary cancers and have accelerated the development of new treatments for kidney cancer.
Dr. Kaelin is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and has served on numerous boards and committees, including the American Association for Cancer Research's Board of Directors and the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors. He has received many awards for his work, including the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Prize for Cancer Research and the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer.
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Michael B. Kastan, M.D., Ph.D.
Executive Director
Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Professor of Pediatrics
Duke Cancer Institute
Durham, NC
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Richard D. Kolodner, Ph.D.
Professor of Medicine
University of California, San Diego
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
La Jolla, CA
Dr. Richard D. Kolodner, Ph.D., is a Member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, San Diego Branch where he is head of the Laboratory of Cancer Genetics. He is also a Professor in the departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and is leader of the Moores UCSD Cancer Center's Cancer Genetics Program. Dr. Kolodner also serves as Executive Director - Laboratory Science and Technology for the worldwide operations of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. He received his bachelors and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Irvine. He went on to become a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School. From 1978 to 1997 he was an Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Kolodner's seminal work in DNA recombination and repair, and his fundamentally important discoveries about DNA mismatch repair and the pathways that prevent genome instability over the last several decades have proved to be central to understanding the genetics of cancer susceptibility. Because of these contributions, he has received numerous honors and awards including the Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Award for Basic Cancer Research and election to the National Academy of Sciences (USA) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Guillermina (Gigi) Lozano, Ph.D.
Chairman and Professor
Department of Genetics
University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX
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Thomas J. Lynch Jr., M.D.
Director
Yale Cancer Center
New Haven, CT
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Tak W. Mak, Ph.D.
Director
Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research
Princess Margaret Hospital
Toronto, ON, Canada
Dr. Tak W. Mak is the Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. He received a bachelor's of science in biochemistry in 1967 and a master of science in biophysics in 1968 from the University of Wisconsin. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta in 1971. He is also senior scientist in the division of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Ontario Cancer Institute. Since 1984, he has been a Professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Immunology at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Mak co-discovered the t-cell receptor, a key component of the immune system. His research is concentrated on gaining fundamental knowledge of the biology of cells in normal and disease settings, and in particular on the mechanisms underlying immune responses and tumorigenesis. His lab has initiated several complementary programs, many of which have evolved from the production and analysis of genetically engineered mouse strains.
Dr. Mak has received several awards and honors for his work. He is a member of the Order of Ontario and was elected as a foreign associate to the National Academy of Sciences in the discipline of immunology in 2002. Dr. Mak has received the King Faisal Prize for Medicine, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, the Paul Ehrlich Prize, the Novartis Prize in Immunology, the Killam Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Sloan Prize of the General Motors Cancer Foundation, and the Robert L. Noble Prize by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.
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Cecil B. Pickett, Ph.D.
President, Research and Development
Biogen Idec
Cambridge, MA
Dr. Cecil B. Pickett is the President of Research and Development at Biogen Idec. Dr. Pickett earned his B.S. in biology from California State University at Hayward and his Ph.D. in cell biology from University of California, Los Angeles. He previously served as Senior Vice President and President of Schering-Plough Research Institute, the pharmaceutical research arm of Schering-Plough Corporation. Dr. Pickett came to Schering-Plough Research Institute from Merck Research Laboratories, Montreal, Canada, and West Point, Pa., where he served as Senior Vice President of Basic Research. During his 15-years at Merck & Co., Dr. Pickett held various positions of increasing responsibility, including research fellow, biochemical regulation; associate director, department of molecular pharmacology and biochemistry; director, department of molecular pharmacology and biochemistry; executive director of research at the Merck Frosst Center for Therapeutic Research, Montreal; and vice president of the Center.
Dr. Pickett is an expert in drug development. During his career he has overseen all aspects of the internal research and collaboration with partners aimed at developing, manufacturing, and marketing advanced drug therapies and has played an integral role in bringing several large and small molecule candidates into clinical development.
Dr. Pickett has published extensively in leading research journals and has been a frequent speaker at scientific symposia and conferences. He has received several major academic awards, appointments and fellowships and serves on a number of scientific committees and editorial boards of medical journals and research organizations. His awards and honors include the UCLA Alumni Association Award for Scholarly Achievement and Academic Distinction; the first Robert A. Scala Award and Lectureship in Toxicology of Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and the CIIT Centers for Health Research Founders' Award. Dr. Pickett served as a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Science Board, the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health and The National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1993 and is also a member of The American Society for Cell Biology, American Society of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, American Association for Cancer Research, and American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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Nancy A. Roach
Chair, Board of Directors
C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition
Hood River, OR 97031
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Laura K. Shawver, Ph.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Phenomix Corp.
San Diego, CA
Dr. Laura Shawver is chief executive officer of Phenomix Corp. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at the University of Iowa in 1984 and did postdoctoral training at the University of Virginia Cancer Center and the Department of Hematology and Oncology at Washington University. Before joining Phenomix, Shawver was President of SUGEN, Inc. which focused on kinases and their function in cancer growth and survival. Her work in understanding the role of VEGF receptor in tumor angiogenesis led to the development of a new class of drugs including SutentTM currently marketed by Pfizer for kidney and stomach cancer. Prior to her employment at SUGEN, Inc., Dr. Shawver was employed at Berlex Biosciences (formerly Triton Biosciences).
Dr. Shawver's primary research interests have focused on oncogenes, growth factors and signal transduction pathways. She has published a number of research articles and book chapters and currently serves as Deputy Editor of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics as well as serving on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research, Angiogenesis and Current Signal Transduction Therapy. An ovarian cancer survivor, Shawver recently founded the philanthropic organization, The Clearity Foundation which seeks to improve treatment options by providing access to molecular profiling services for doctors and patients. Dr. Shawver is an active member in the American Association for Cancer Research currently serving on the Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee.
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Ellen V. Sigal, Ph.D.
Chairperson and Founder
Friends of Cancer Research
Arlington, VA
Dr. Ellen V. Sigal is Chairperson and Founder of Friends of Cancer Research ("Friends"), a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the nation's progress toward prevention and treatment of cancer by mobilizing public support for cancer research funding and providing education on key public policy issues. Over the past eleven years, Friends has pioneered innovative public-private partnerships, organized critical policy forums, educated the public and brought together key communities to develop collaborative strategies in the field of cancer research. She received her Ph.D. from Rutgers University in Russian History.
Dr. Sigal was recently elected to the inaugural board of directors of the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a partnership designed to modernize medical product development, accelerate innovation, and enhance product safety in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She serves on the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors, the National Institutes of Health Foundation Board chairing its Public-Private Partnerships Committee, the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation Board of Trustees, and on the board of several national cancer centers. She served on the National Institutes of Health prestigious Director's Council of Public Representatives from 2003-2006. She was a Presidential Appointee to the National Cancer Advisory Board from 1992-1998 chairing its Budget and Planning Committee which oversees the federal cancer budget.
Dr. Sigal was the 2008 recipient of the Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research and has received the Association of American Cancer Institutes Public Service Award, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Special Recognition Award, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center National Leadership Award, and the American Association for Cancer Research National Leadership Award. She has been honored by Research!America, George Washington University Cancer Institute, International Spirit of Life Foundation, and Washingtonian magazine as a Washingtonian of the Year.
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David A. Tuveson, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Group Leader
Cancer Research UK
Cambridge Research Institute
Cambridge, England
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