The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Names 2005 Recipients of Komen Foundation Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Names 2005 Recipients of Komen Foundation Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction
Pioneers in Transforming Growth Factor Research and Bone Metastasis Prevention to be Recognized at San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
DALLAS - November 29, 2005 - The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the nation's largest private source of funding for breast cancer research and community outreach programs, has announced the 2005 winners of its most prestigious honor, the Komen Foundation Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction.
The awardees will be recognized December 8 at the Komen Foundation's Brinker Dinner held during the 28th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), December 8 through 11 in San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center.
The Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction
The Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction was established by the Komen Foundation in 1992 to recognize extraordinary achievement in breast cancer-related basic scientific research and in clinical applications in research, screening and treatment of the disease.
The 2005 co-awardees for basic research are long-time collaborators, Anita B. Roberts, Ph.D. of the National Cancer Institute and Michael B. Sporn, M.D. of Dartmouth Medical School. Honored this year in the area of clinical research is Trevor J. Powles, Ph.D. of Parkside Hospital, London.
Doctors Roberts and Sporn
Doctors Roberts and Sporn have collaborated for more than 30 years on research that focuses on TGF-β, or transforming growth factor beta, a messenger molecule integral to the activities of the cell cycle. Doctors Roberts and Sporn established roles for this protein in autoimmune diseases, fibrogenesis, carcinogenesis and wound healing. Their work together is now forming the basis of new therapeutic approaches in breast cancer.
Dr. Roberts is chief of laboratory of cell regulation and carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sporn is the Oscar M. Cohn '34 Professor of Pharmacology and Medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.
Professor Powles
Professor Powles is an endocrinologist and medical oncologist whose work focuses on the prevention, risk assessment, diagnosis and early treatment of breast cancer. In 1986, he started the first tamoxifen breast cancer prevention trial. Professor Powles also led one of the first groups to use aromatase inhibitors to treat metastatic breast cancer. This group continues to be at the forefront of research into the development and use of aromatase inhibitors.
Work conducted by Professor Powles led to the use of bisphosphonates for the treatment and prevention of bone metastases. In fact, he led the first adjuvant trial using a bisphosphonate for patients with operable breast cancer. Professor Powles is a consultant breast oncologist and lead clinician at the Parkside Oncology Centre in London and Emeritus Professor of Breast Oncology at London's Institute of Cancer Research.
Awardees to deliver plenary lectures
The awardees will deliver the 2005 Komen Foundation's Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction plenary lectures on their work on the opening day of SABCS, December 8 from 3:30 to 4:40 p.m. in Exhibit Hall D at the Gonzales Convention Center. Symposium attendees are invited to attend the plenary lectures and the Brinker Award dinner, which follows. Complete information about the symposium is available at www.sabcs.org.
Past award recipients
Past recipients of the Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction include V. Craig Jordan, a pioneer in the use of tamoxifen; Dr. Mary-Claire King, whose research isolated the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations associated with genetic forms of breast cancer; Dr. Larry Norton, whose dose-density approach to the administration of chemotherapy has revolutionized breast cancer treatment; and Dr. Leland Hartwell, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for medicine who was recognized for his achievements in understanding the cell cycle in the development of cancer. Awardees each receive a $20,000 honorarium and a special citation of this distinction.
