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Cancer researchers to share $1 million Sjöberg Prize
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences presented Dennis J. Slamon, MD, and Brian J. Druker, MD, with the 2019 Sjöberg Prize.
The $1 million prize — which includes $100,000 in award money and $900,000 to fund future research — recognizes their contributions to the development of targeted cancer therapies.
Slamon is director of clinical/translational research and director of Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"I was deeply honored to receive such a prestigious award,” Slamon said in a press release. “The award money will be very helpful in pursuing our objectives, identifying new targets in addition to the ones we have already targeted. Currently, we are working on ovarian cancer, lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. The idea is to identify targets on cancer cells that are not present on normal cells, and then to approach this therapeutically in the hopes of developing more effective and less toxic therapies for cancer.”
Druker is director of Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. He also is chair of leukemia research and professor of medicine.
“It was a complete surprise to get the call and, when I read more about it, I felt extremely privileged to join the ranks of the prior recipients,” Druker said in the release. “Our research is continuing at a rapid pace, trying to identify new targets in leukemia and bringing that knowledge into the clinic. The money from the Sjöberg prize will help us accelerate that progress.”