News Release

David M. Goldenberg receives Society of Nuclear Medicine's 2005 Paul C. Aebersold Award

Highest award from SNM goes to pioneer of radiolabeled antibodies for detection, diagnosis and therapy of cancer

Grant and Award Announcement

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

TORONTO, Canada--David M. Goldenberg, Sc.D., M.D., founder and president of the Garden State Cancer Center and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Immunology in Belleville, N.J., received the 2005 Paul C. Aebersold Award for outstanding achievement in basic science applied to nuclear medicine at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine June 19 in Toronto, Canada.

Goldenberg pioneered the development of radiolabeled antibodies for various applications in the detection, diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Under his leadership, the scientists and clinicians at the Garden State Cancer Center have developed antibodies for the diagnosis, detection and treatment of solid tumors such as colorectal, pancreatic, lung, breast and ovarian cancers, as well as certain hematologic cancers such as lymphoma and multiple myeloma. He has overseen the in-house clinic as well as clinical outreach at affiliated institutions in the United States and Europe for treatment of cancer patients with radiolabeled antibodies. He also helped develop two diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals marketed by Immunomedics Inc., which he established in 1982.

Goldenberg, who has been in his current position at the Garden State Cancer Center since 1990, is also the president and chief executive officer of CMMI, a not-for-profit, independent, specialized research center he formed in 1982; the center focuses on the development of biological strategies to detect and treat cancer and immunological diseases. Over the past 30 years, this distinguished scientist has been a major contributor to the current knowledge of the basic principles of the preparation and utilization of radioimmunoconjugates in medical diagnosis, including functional imaging and guided radionuclide therapy. Goldenberg, who has published more than 500 articles in peer-reviewed journals, is currently exploring the use of positron emission tomography (PET) tracers in immunodiagnosis and therapy, especially by pretargeting methods he and his colleagues are developing and the use of new humanized antibodies for the treatment of lymphomas and autoimmune diseases. He has edited two books on radiolabeled antibodies and 10 journal supplements to Cancer, Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research of the proceedings of international conferences he has organized on cancer immunoconjugates.

He has received numerous professional awards and recognition by scientific bodies, including McGill University, the Indian Society of Nuclear Medicine (Sarabhai Memorial Oration), the Swedish Oncology and Radiology Societies (Elis Bervin Lecture and Medal), the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine (Abbott Award), the German Cancer Fund, the National Institutes of Health (twice Outstanding Investigator Grant awardee), Tel Aviv University, the British Radiology Society (3M Mayneord Memorial Award), the Clinical Ligand Assay Society (Distinguished Scientist Award) and the states of Kentucky and New Jersey.

Goldenberg received an S.B. degree from the University of Chicago in 1958, an Sc.D. from the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg in 1965 and his M.D. magna cum laude from the University of Heidelberg's School of Medicine in 1966. He has faculty appointments in pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University and the University of Kentucky and adjunct professorships in medicine, surgery and microbiology/immunology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and New York Medical College. Goldenberg currently is an editorial board member of several journals, including the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, the International Journal of Tumor Markers, the Quarterly Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Current Medical Imaging Reviews, Current Cancer Therapy Reviews and Cancer Biotherapy and Radiopharmaceuticals. He served in the past in similar capacities with Cancer, Cancer Research, the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, the Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis and Tumor Targeting. In addition, he was chairman of the merit review board in oncology of the Veterans Administration and a member of the Experimental Immunology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health.

"I am humbled to be among these giants of nuclear medicine," said Goldenberg, adding, "I am especially grateful to the society for recognizing me, a non-nuclear physician, for my contributions to basic science applied to nuclear medicine. Science often takes us down unpredictable paths, and I certainly did not plan to conduct nuclear medicine research when I embarked on cancer biology, pathology, immunology and genetics."

The 2005 Aebersold recipient added, "I adopted the tools of nuclear medicine to better define the opportunities of diagnosing and treating diseases with specific antibodies, and over the past 30 years I have become increasingly enthused with the prospects of antibody- and peptide-based radiopharmaceuticals and better targeting methods." He recognized the dedication and loyalty of his long-term collaborators, Robert M. Sharkey, Ph.D., and Hans J. Hansen, Ph.D., and expressed his gratitude to his children and his wife Cynthia, "who reminds me repeatedly that the cup is half full."

The Aebersold Award is named for Paul C. Aebersold, a pioneer in the biologic and medical application of radioactive materials and the first director of the Atomic Energy Commission's Division of Isotope Development at Oak Ridge, Tenn. The first Aebersold Award was given by SNM in 1973.

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About the Society of Nuclear Medicine
The Society of Nuclear Medicine is holding its 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada. Research topics for the 2005 meeting include techniques for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; advanced imaging for the diagnosis, staging and treatment of cancer; nuclear cardiology; and the collaboration between nuclear medicine and bioengineering in the fight against cancer. SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular imaging/nuclear medicine. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.


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