SEATTLE - Robert Eisenman, Ph.D., a member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Basic Sciences Division, is the first recipient of the Kirk A. Landon Prize for Basic Cancer Research, an award given by the American Association for Cancer Research.
The $200,000 prize was established to honor significant, fundamental contributions to laboratory research. Eisenman, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, is a leader in the field of oncogenes, aberrantly regulated genes that cause cancer.
His research regarding a gene known as myc has been key to understanding how normal cells become cancerous, said Mark Groudine, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Basic Sciences Division.
"Bob has contributed the most innovative, insightful and reliable work in the field," he said. In addition to cancer research, Eisenman's work has impacted studies of other diseases, most notably the use of protease inhibitors to treat AIDS.
Eisenman, also an affiliate professor of biochemistry at the University of Washington School of Medicine, will receive the award at the AACR annual meeting April 6-10 in San Francisco, where he will deliver a lecture on his research.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, home of two Nobel Prize laureates, is an independent, nonprofit research institution dedicated to the development and advancement of biomedical technology to eliminate cancer and other potentially fatal diseases. Fred Hutchinson receives more funding from the National Institutes of Health than any other U.S. research center. Recognized internationally for its pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation, the center's four scientific divisions collaborate to form a unique environment for conducting basic and applied science. Fred Hutchinson is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Pacific Northwest and is one of 41 nationwide. For more information, visit the center's Web site at http://www.fhcrc.org.
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