The AACR states that its annual award is to honour "an individual who has made significant fundamental contributions to cancer research, either through a single scientific discovery or a body of work. These contributions … must have had a lasting impact on the cancer field and must have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to progress against cancer."
The citation for Professor Metcalf notes that he "is an outstanding example of a consummate cancer researcher. His discovery and development of the white blood cell regulating hormones, the Colony Stimulating Factors, have provided treatment methods that have now been used throughout the world and impacted the lives of more than six million cancer patients. His development of CSF-elicited peripheral blood stem cells has revolutionized transplantation methods for patients. The discovery, purification, cloning, mass production and clinical use of the Colony Stimulating Factors were a remarkable series of accomplishments spanning more than thirty years of sustained personal creativity."
The AACR Lifetime Achievement Award is the latest in a long series of supreme national and international honours accorded Professor Metcalf, including the Prime Minister's Prize for Science, the Victoria Prize, his naming as a Companion of the Order of Australia, the Albert Lasker Award and the Inaugural Salk Medal for Research Excellence.
In receiving the AACR award, Professor Metcalf commented, "I feel greatly honoured to receive this special award from one of America's oldest and most distinguished research organizations. The award actually recognizes research work over three decades by a large and talented Australian team, leading to major improvements in the management of patients with cancer and leukaemia."
Professor Suzanne Cory, the Director of WEHI, added, "The entire WEHI community is proud of Professor Metcalf's latest accolade and we are inspired by his dedication. After fifty years of research, he continues to work at the laboratory bench on a wide range of models of leukaemia and disorders of blood cell formation."