Renato Baserga, MD, a cell biologist and longtime member of the AACR, died March 5, 2023, at the age of 97.
Baserga was born April 11, 1925, in Meda, Italy. He earned his medical degree from the University of Milan in 1949.
After completing a residency at the University of Milan, he moved to the United States, where he had a lengthy career as a professor of pathology and microbiology. He held positions at Chicago Medical School, St. Luke’s Hospital, the Argonne National Laboratory, and Northwestern University, all in Illinois, followed by more than two decades at Temple University in Philadelphia as a professor and department chair of pathology and a senior investigator at the Fels Research Institute.
Most recently, he was a professor of microbiology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He also served as a deputy director of the Kimmel Cancer Center.
Baserga’s research centered on molecular and cell biology, with a focus on insulin growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and its receptor. Over the course of his career, he is credited with more than 500 publications as well as many books and book chapters. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (previously known as the American Society of Biological Chemists). Baserga became a member of the AACR in 1954. He served as an associate editor of Cancer Research from 1990 to 2000. In 2004, he was recognized as a 50-year AACR member.
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He was a wonderful inspirational scientist. I loved his publications.
I have known Renato since 1966 when both of us were conducting studies on tumor cell kinetics
He initiated the slogan that the Biochemistry of the cell cycle should be the goal of those involved in cell kinetics. We used to meet at two meetings: The cell kinetics society (now defunct) and the AACR
He was a gentleman and a good friend.
He will be missed by many of us
Peeyush Lala, MD. Ph.D., DSc (honoris causa), FAAA
Professor-Emeritus (Active)
Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
the university of Western Ontario, : London, Ontario, Canada
I spent much of the early part of my career fascinated with the role of IGF-1, IGF-II and the IGF and insulin receptors in cancer. This led me to develop an IGF-1R-selective antibody while at Schering-Plough and a small molecule IGF-1R/insulin receptor kinase inhibitor while at OSI Pharmaceuticals. I was guided in large part by the work from Renato Baserga's lab. I am so sorry to hear of his passing after his tremendous influence on the Cancer Biology research community.
Renato was my first advisor and my department chair, as well as a member of my thesis committee. He introduced me to cancer research and helped to guide me through my MD, PhD program. He was one of the leading lights of cancer research for many decades making significant contributions to our knowledge of cancer. So sad to bid farewell.