Judith Campisi, PhD, an expert on the link between aging and cancer through cellular senescence at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and a Fellow of the AACR Academy, died January 19, 2024, after a long illness.
Campisi’s laboratory discovered the first biomarker for altered gene expression for senescent cells, showing for the first time that they accumulate as human tissues age. She suggested in 1996 that senescent cells might drive cancer that occurs late in life. Her research group was the first to describe senescence associated secretory phenotype (SASP), a key characteristic of senescent cells which secrete inflammatory cytokines, immune modulators, growth factors and proteases. She definitively linked cellular aging and cancer in her groundbreaking work demonstrating that the accumulation of senescent cells leads to the proliferation of premalignant and malignant epithelial cells and tumorigenesis.
A New York native, Campisi obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1974 and a doctorate in biochemistry in 1979 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She completed a fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in 1984 and joined the faculty of Boston University Medical School. In 1991, she moved to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) as a senior scientist. She became head of the department of cell and molecular biology at LBNL and the University of California, Berkeley, in 1994. In 2002, she opened a second laboratory at the Buck Institute in Novato, California.
Campisi served on the steering committee for age-related consequences of cancer and treatments of the National Cancer Institute. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2018, and she was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in the class of 2020.
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Judy Campisi was my favorite of the shortlist of “international experts” – beyond her incredible scientific accomplishments, her plainspoken engaging presentations with real connections to human disease made the (often convoluted and complicated) field of senescence relevant and accessible. I remember listening to her lectures all the way back in medical school and residency, and her research is what inspired me to focus my own work on senescence. The longevity research world has lost an amazing champion. I will miss her.
Judith , you ran a good race. Rest in peace. we will forever miss you.
I never had a collaboration with Judith Campisi, but always enjoyed her talks. Her hyptheses and results and her enthusiasm for her research inspired me and the scientific work in my own lab. The community has lost an outstanding scientist and wonderful person. I would like to express my sympathies to her family and close colleagues and friends.
You will be missed, Judy! I came to know you at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and always admired your presentations, although I was not working on aging. Your dedication to success of early career fellows and support for your colleagues during meetings were inspiring.
I had the privilege of working aside Judy as a post-doc in Professor Art Pardee’s labs at Dana Farber. Consistently, she was a kind, generous person and fabulous mentor.. She shared her passion for Quality of Thought - and she had a way to light up our meetings with innovative ideas to build on new fundamental discoveries that could advance human health. She was also patient (with me and other new lab members, to share her proficiencies in emerging technologies to gain understandings of cell growth and regulation, sub cellular biochemistry, and genetics. I am confident that her many contributions will live on, and her students will continue to share her passion and her goals to advance human health.
Judy was an outstanding cell biologist and kind hearted person. We will remember her contribution and supportive nature.
A petite woman who left a giant footprint. She was the pioneer who had to spend decades convincing the legion skeptics that senescence was a real, physiologically relevant state. I loved reading her papers and sharing them with new generations. Thank you, Judy.
Judith will miss you sorely. You were a great mentor.
Neelu Puri
Thank you, Judy, for everything that you gave to each of us scientifically and personally. I will remember your kindness, brilliance, strength, and mentorship forever.
Although I never worked directly with Judith Campisi, I can remember her talks at cancer conferences early in my career. Her enthusiasm for research (her own and others being presented) was infectious. She was a great role model for me as a young woman faculty member starting my own research lab. My sympathies to her family and close colleagues and friends.
This is a hard pill to swallow because Judith was such a pillar to the general scientific and aging communities. Her intelligence, kindness, creativity, and spirit touched me deeply when I was fortunate to fellowship with her over the past 4 years. I will continue to work hard in the aging and cancer field to honor her memory. She will be truly missed by me and everyone she has touched! Thank you Dr. Campisi for leaving this world in a better place!
Judy, you will be missed. You were not only a pioneer in aging and cancer biology, but such a wonderful and generous person. I will greatly miss our many conversations and of course your smile and hugs. Your impact on the field will endure for centuries. - James
Judith [Judy] was an outstanding cell biologist and gerontologist. I knew her first when she was a student at Stony Brook university where she received her PhD. She was brilliant, charming, always supportive to others
with an infectious laugh.
She was not only a brilliant scientist but a wonderful friend . We will miss her.
Judith Campisi was a brilliant cell biologist who made out
standing contributions to cellular senescence studies. I first knew her when she was a student at Stony Brook University where she received her PhD. She was bright and charming with a ready smile and infectious laughter. In shall miss her deeply.
Grateful to Judith Campisi, coauthor of the paper: Measuring Aging and Identifying Aging Phenotypes in Cancer Survivors https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djz136 , for stimulating discussions of reliability theory at the National Cancer Institute (NCI, NIH) scientific meeting.