Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Brinker Award Winners Honored for Distinction
SAN ANTONIO, TX – December 7, 2011 – Two prominent physician-scientists will deliver keynote lectures to thousands of breast cancer researchers at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium this week as winners of the prestigious Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Brinker Awards for Scientific Distinction.
The Brinker Award winners are Armando E. Giuliano, M.D., executive vice chair of Surgery for Surgical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Carlos L. Arteaga, M.D., professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Dr. Giuliano is receiving the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research for research that has led to less invasive surgical treatments for breast cancer, specifically the removal of fewer lymph nodes in certain women with early stage breast cancer. Giuliano demonstrated that surgeons can often remove sentinel nodes, or the first lymph nodes that cancer reaches, rather than performing complete lymph node removal, thus reducing potential complications and debilitating side effects from the latter procedure. Giuliano also was instrumental in developing less invasive surgical techniques such as needle biopsies rather than surgical biopsies for many breast cancer patients, and other breast-conserving techniques. Dr. Guiliano’s award lecture is entitled is “Changes in the Management of the Axilla in Breast Cancer.”
Dr. Arteaga is receiving the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Science for his work explaining the role of several key proteins and growth factor receptors in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. His translational research helped provide the rationale for many of our new targeted therapies. Dr. Arteaga has the rare ability to conduct cutting-edge laboratory work and innovative clinical trials, and his work will continue to move the field forward and lead to the next generation of “smart drugs.” Dr. Arteaga’s lecture is entitled “Oncogenes & ER: A convenient marriage for hormone-dependent breast cancer.”
“The pioneering work of these scientists has had, and will continue to have, a significant impact on the quality of treatment and quality of life for breast cancer survivors,” said Dr. Eric Winer, Komen’s chief scientific advisor and chair of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Giuliano and Arteaga will deliver their keynote lectures Dec.7 from 4-5 p.m. at the 34th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, a major international gathering of breast cancer researchers, clinicians and patient advocacy organizations. They each will receive a $25,000 award, and both will be honored at a reception Thursday evening at the Symposium.
The Brinker Awards for Scientific Distinction were established in 1992 to recognize the efforts of pioneers in two critically important areas of the fight to end breast cancer: clinical research and basic science. The roster of Komen Brinker Award laureates has grown to include names of researchers who have made the most significant advances in breast cancer research and medicine.
Komen has invested $685 million to breast cancer research since opening its doors in 1982 and is the largest private funder of breast cancer research, this year investing $66 million to new research and programs to advance understanding, prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Currently, Komen is funding 572 research projects totaling more than $300 million worldwide.
