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Physicians receive Taubman Prize
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Charles L. Sawyers, MD, and Brian J. Druker, MD, received the 2013 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medicine.
The two physician-scientists — whose research helped transform chronic myeloid leukemia from a frequently fatal disease to a manageable condition — will share a $100,000 award given by the Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute.
Druker — whose research led to the development of imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis) and served as proof of principle for targeted cancer therapies — is director of Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. He also is a HemOnc Today Editorial Board member.
Sawyers — whose research of imatinib resistance led to the development of second-generation drugs — is chair of the human oncology and pathogenesis program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He also is president of the American Association of Cancer Research.
“Brian Druker and Charles Sawyers are quintessential role models for modern transitional medicine,” David Ginsburg, MD, leader of the panel that selected the Taubman Prize recipients, said in a press release. “Their success in developing specific, targeted therapies for chronic myeloid leukemia, including second-generation drugs for resistant disease, has inspired the pharmaceutical industry and an entire generation of future physician-scientists.”
Sawyers and Druker will present the keynote address at the Taubman Institute’s annual symposium in October.