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2009 Recipient
Robert A. Weinberg, Ph.D.
Founding Member
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Cambridge, MA
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Dr. Weinberg will deliver his Award Lecture entitled, "Breast Cancer Stem Cells and the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition," at the 32nd Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, TX. The Award ceremony and Lecture will be held on Friday, December 11, 2009, from 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The American Association for Cancer Research honors Dr. Robert A. Weinberg with 2009 AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research.
Dr. Robert A. Weinberg is a founding Member of Whitehead Institute. As a pioneer in cancer research, Dr. Weinberg is widely known for his discoveries of the first human oncogene, Ras-a gene that causes normal cells to form tumors-and the first tumor suppressor gene, Rb.
The principal goal of his research program is to determine how oncogenes, their normal counterparts (proto-oncogenes), and tumor suppressor genes fit together in the complex circuitry that controls cell growth. His group succeeded in creating the first genetically defined human cancer cells. He is interested in applying this knowledge to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.
Dr. Weinberg's laboratory is also focused on studying the interactions between epithelial and stromal cells (the two major types of cells found in mammalian tissue) that produce carcinomas and the processes by which cancer cells invade and metastasize.
Many mammalian tissues are formed from distinct epithelial and stromal cell layers. Often, a tumor that forms in an epithelial tissue layer must recruit stromal cells in order to become a carcinoma. Dr. Weinberg's lab is exploring the molecular process by which this recruitment occurs. In addition, his lab has been investigating a signaling pathway operating within epithelial cells that enables them to release signals that stimulate blood vessel growth in the surrounding stroma.
Dr. Weinberg's lab has also focused on a small group of transcription factors-proteins that control gene expression. These proteins, which are typically involved in embryogenesis, may contribute to cancer cells' ability to disseminate to distant sites in the body where they may form metastases. Dr. Weinberg and his team are examining mechanisms by which tumors can exploit these proteins that are active during embryonic development and exploit these transcription factors to execute various steps of the "invasion-metastasis" cascade-the sequence of steps that enables primary tumor cells to disseminate through the body and form secondary tumors. Additionally, the scientists are studying the role of cancer stem cells-the self-renewing, tumor-seeding cells that have been found in a number of solid tumors in the past few years. In 2008, his lab investigators reported a finding that brings together these two research themes: cancer cells induced to follow one of these embryonic pathways gain many of the properties of adult stem cells.
Dr. Weinberg, who received his Ph.D. in biology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969, has held research positions at the Weizmann Institute and the Salk Institute. In 1982, he helped found Whitehead Institute, joined the faculty as a professor of biology at MIT, and published his landmark paper "Mechanism of Activation of a Human Oncogene" in the journal Nature. In 1999, another major paper, "Creation of Human Tumor Cells with Defined Genetic Elements," was also published in Nature. Dr. Weinberg has also received the 2006 Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize in Basic Cancer Research and the 1996 AACR G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award.
AACR is truly honored to present Dr. Weinberg with this well-deserved Award.