PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will honor Webster K. Cavenee, Ph.D, recipient of AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship at the 2007 Annual Meeting, to be held April 14-18 in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Lectureship was established in honor of the late Princess Takamatsu of Japan and is supported by the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund. Cavenee is being recognized for his groundbreaking discoveries regarding the genetic mechanisms of predisposition to human cancer and his commitment to the international cancer community.
Cavenee's original research seeking to define the genetic lesions in retinoblastoma provided the first genetic evidence for the existence of tumor suppressor genes, one of the most influential breakthroughs in cancer research. This breakthrough confirmed the "two-hit hypothesis," fundamentally altering the way scientists think about the onset of cancer and its progression.
Cavenee is the director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, San Diego Branch In 2004, the University of California, San Diego named him Distinguished Professor.
Princess Takamatsu became involved in cancer research following the death of her mother from bowel cancer in 1933. In 1968, she established the Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund, a trust that allocates public monies to innovative cancer research. Through her various activities, the Princess promoted the importance of collaborations across scientific disciplines and among scientists across the globe.
Cavenee’s inaugural lecture, Targeting Defective Receptors in Human Brain Cancer: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Opportunities, will take place at 1 p.m. on April 17, in Hall A of the Los Angeles Convention Center.
For further information on this lectureship or other AACR Awards, please visit www.aacr.org
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes more than 24,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 70 other countries.
AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment, and patient care.
AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication, CR, is a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. It provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship, and advocacy.