Newswise — A pair of world-renowned researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) will be honored by cancer specialists from around the globe, during the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference being held in San Diego, California.
The annual gathering will feature more than 17,000 researchers, healthcare professionals, and patient advocates, including several distinguished basic and clinical investigators from CINJ, who will showcase advances in laboratory, clinical and translational research. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
CINJ Interim Director, Joseph R. Bertino, M.D., who also is a university professor of medicine and pharmacology at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is the recipient of the 13th Annual AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievements in Clinical Research, while Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., member, CINJ and professor of pediatrics and biochemistry at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, will receive the Kirk A. Landon-AACR Prize for Basic Cancer Research, during this year's event taking place April 12 through 16.
The AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award
The AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award recognizes outstanding achievement in clinical cancer research and honors the late Dr. Joseph Burchenal, who was a past president of AACR and a leader in the cancer field. According to the association, Dr. Bertino is being honored this year for his contributions to the development of novel cancer therapeutics. He has been recognized internationally through the years for his role in finding curative treatments in the areas of leukemia and lymphoma.
Bertino says he feels honored, "AACR provides a forum for the world's leading cancer researchers to share the most comprehensive information on the latest developments in the field. I have been privileged to work with outstanding students, postdoctorals and faculty members over the years at Yale, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and for the past six years at CINJ. Progressive has been impressive, but we have much work to do to eradicate cancer." Bertino will deliver an award lecture entitled "New Twists on Old Drugs: 5 Fluorouracil and Methotrexate."
The Kirk A. Landon Prize for Basic Cancer Research
The Kirk A. Landon Prize for Basic Cancer Research, according to the AACR, is among the largest awards in the world offered to cancer researchers from a professional society of their peers. It is awarded to "an outstanding scientist who has made seminal cancer research discoveries, which have accelerated progress against cancer and have implications for future discoveries and contributions to cancer research." Dr. Levine is best known for his work involving the discovery of the p53 tumor suppressor gene, which has long been considered a building block in molecular cancer research.
Levine notes, "While we have come a long way, much discovery still remains in p53 study. It is through continued collaboration through such events as the AACR Annual Meeting that we will achieve our goals in unlocking the mysteries of cancer. And it is through the support of such awards that will allow for the tools necessary to facilitate the next generation of cancer discoveries."
An unrestricted cash award of $100,000 from the Kirk A. and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation and the AACR will be awarded to Levine, who will give an award lecture entitled "Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the p53 Pathway."
This year's AACR Annual Meeting includes highlights on the genetic basis for cancer health disparities among racial minorities, personalized medicine and new vaccines under development for pancreatic, breast and other cancers.
About The Cancer Institute of New JerseyThe Cancer Institute of New Jersey is the state's first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is dedicated to improving the prevention, detection, treatment and care of patients with cancer. CINJ's physician-scientists engage in translational research, transforming their laboratory discoveries into clinical practice quite literally bringing research to life. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a center of excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. To support CINJ, please call the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Foundation at 1-888-333-CINJ.
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Network is comprised of hospitals throughout the state and provides a mechanism to rapidly disseminate important discoveries into the community. Partner Hospital: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Affiliate Hospitals: Bayshore Community Hospital, CentraState Healthcare System, Cooper University Hospital*, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, JFK Medical Center, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Overlook Hospital, Raritan Bay Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton (CINJ-Hamilton), Saint Peter's University Hospital, Somerset Medical Center, Southern Ocean County Hospital, The University Hospital/UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School*, and University Medical Center at Princeton. *Academic Affiliate
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