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Christopher J. Marshall

In Memoriam: Christopher J. Marshall

(01/19/1949 - 08/08/2015)Member since 2002

Christopher J. Marshall, DPhil, head of the Division of Cancer Biology and a professor of cell biology at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London, died August 8, 2015, at the age of 66. Marshall was known for his role in the discovery of the NRAS human oncogene.

Marshall had been an active AACR member since 2002. He served on the AACR Annual Meeting 2011 Program Committee and was a speaker and attendee at various other AACR meetings and conferences.

Marshall was born Jan. 19, 1949, in Birmingham, United Kingdom. He graduated from Churchill College, Cambridge, and received his doctorate from Lincoln College, Oxford. Before beginning his career at the ICR, Marshall trained at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Following the discovery of the first-known human oncogene, Src, by researchers in the United States, Marshall and his colleague Alan Hall focused their research on identifying additional human cancer genes, which resulted in their discovery of a new human oncogene, NRAS, which was found to have important roles in the development of cancers such as leukemia and melanoma.

Marshall received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career, including the Novartis Medal of the Biochemical Society and the Cancer Research U.K. Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Prize. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the European Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the European Molecular Biology Organisation.