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Stanford, Johns Hopkins cancer researchers share Albany Prize
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Two researchers will share the 2019 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research.
Bert Vogelstein, MD, and Irving L. Weissman, MD, will both receive this year’s award in recognition of their research in stem cell and cancer cell biology that have led to advances in oncology, immunology, cancer genomics and regenerative medicine.
“At the forefront of cancer research for decades, Drs. Vogelstein and Weissman have made major and sustained contributions to our understanding of what causes a tumor to grow and how it becomes malignant,” Vincent Verdile, MD, the Lynne and Mark Groban distinguished dean of Albany Medical College and chair of the Albany Prize National Selection Committee, said in a press release. “They have revolutionized our understanding of cancer biology and its application to earlier detection and treatment, leading to novel approaches capable of prolonging the lives of those who would at one time have been considered incurable.”
Vogelstein is the Clayton professor of oncology and pathology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and the director of the Lustgarten Laboratory for Pancreatic Cancer Research at Johns Hopkins University. He is also an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Weissman is director of both the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Stanford Ludwig Center for Cancer Stem Cell Research and Medicine. He is also the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig professor for clinical investigation in cancer research and a professor of pathology and developmental biology at Stanford University.
“Dr. Weissman’s groundbreaking work in advancing our understanding of blood-forming stem cells and cancer has transformed many aspects of modern medicine,” Lloyd Minor, MD, dean of the Stanford School of Medicine, said in a press release. “We congratulate Dr. Weissman on this well-deserved recognition.”
The Albany Medical Center Prize was established in 2000 by the late businessman and philanthropist Morris “Marty” Silverman to honor scientists whose work has demonstrated significant outcomes that offer medical value of national or international importance.
Last year’s Albany Prize was awarded to three recipients: James P. Allison, PhD; Carl H. June, MD; and Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD. The trio were recognized for their research and contributions to the field of immunology and its applications to treat cancer and other diseases.
The award has been given annually since 2001 and includes a $500,000 prize. Vogelstein and Weissman will split the prize, which will be awarded during an event in Albany, New York, on Sept. 25.
“I’m especially honored to share this award with Bert Vogelstein, whose work I have followed for many years and greatly admire,” Weissman said in a press release. “Inspired by his earlier work on colon cancer, we were able to show that nearly all stepwise mutations that lead to the development of leukemia and blood diseases, such as myelodysplastic syndrome, occur in blood-forming stem cells, apparently hitchhiking in these self-renewing cells to form disease clones. It’s a fantastic feeling to join the group of highly accomplished past recipients of the Albany Prize.”
References:
Albany Medical College. Innovators who have revolutionized cancer research selected to receive America’s most distinguished prize in medicine [press release]. August 20, 2019. Available at: www.amc.edu/news/innovators-who-have-revolutionized-cancer-research-selected-to-receive-americas-most-distinguished-prize-in-medicine.cfm. Accessed August 22, 2019.
Stanford Medicine. Stem cell researcher Irving Weissman awarded Albany Prize [news release]. August 20, 2019. http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/08/stem-cell-researcher-irving-weissman-awarded-albany-prize.html. Accessed August 22, 2019.