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Michael L. Friedland, MD (1942 – 2015)
Michael L. Friedland, MD, founding dean of
the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at
Florida Atlantic University, passed away on
August 13, 2015.
Dr. Friedland’s career included various
senior positions in health-care services
and administration, serving as dean of the
SUNY-Upstate regional campus in Binghamton, New York; both Texas A&M University
and the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Schools of Medicine; and dean of the West
Virginia University regional campus in the
Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia.
2015 Lasker Award Winners Announced
Marking the 70th year of its awards, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation announced the winners of the 2015 Lasker Awards, each of which carries an honorarium of $250,000 for each category. The recipients are:
The 2015 Albert Lasker Basic Medical
Research Award: Evelyn M. Witkin and
Stephen J. Elledge for Discoveries Concerning the DNA-Damage Response
Evelyn M. Witkin,
PhD, professor
emerita at Rutgers
Waksman Institute
of Microbiology, and
Stephen J. Elledge,
PhD, professor of
Evelyn M. Witkin, PhD
genetics at the Harvard Medical School
and Brigham and
Women’s Hospital,
were honored for research that illuminated the fundamentals
of the DNA-damage
Stephen J. Elledge, PhD response – a mechanism that protects
the genome of all living organisms. Drs.
Witkin and Elledge laid the conceptual
and experimental foundation that led to
an understanding of the systems that
ensure genetic fidelity in DNA replication: Dr. Witkin figured out that bacteria
respond to DNA damage by triggering
multiple protective physiological activities; Dr. Elledge detailed the molecular
pathway by which cells in more complex
organisms, including humans, detect and
respond to deviant DNA structures.
The 2015 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award: James P. Allison
James P. Allison, PhD, professor and
ASHClinicalNews.org
chair of immunology at University of
Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,
was recognized for
the discovery and
development of a
James P. Allison, PhD
monoclonal antibody therapy that
unleashes the immune system to
combat cancer. In the mid-1990s, Dr.
Allison and other scientists showed
that a protein called CTLA-4 subdues T-cell activation; by suppressing
CTLA-4 blocks, Dr. Allison was able
to unleash the T cells of the immune
system to fight tumors. The findings
from this research resulted in new
treatments that have prolonged the
lives of hundreds of patients with
metastatic melanoma, which otherwise kills 50 percent of patients in
less than a year. Dr. Allison’s work also
introduced a new therapeutic world
that capitalizes on the body’s inherent
capacity to destroy malignant cells.
The 2015 Lasker-Bloomberg Public
Service Award: Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors
Without Borders), established in 1971,
was recognized for their bold leadership in responding to the recent Ebola
outbreak in Africa, and for sustained
and effective frontline responses to
health emergencies.
Source: Lasker Foundation news release
Dr. Friedland received numerous awards
and honors throughout his career, including
the American Medical Association’s Physician’s Recognition Award on nine separate
occasions (most recently in 2001).
In a press release, representatives of the
College wrote, “[Dr. Friedland] will be fondly
remembered by the University family for his
numerous contributions in health care and
medical education as well as his instrumental role in establishing FAU’s independent
medical school.”
Iuliana Shapira Named
Chief of the Division of
Hematology and Oncology
at SUNY Downstate
Medical Center
study the genetic basis for myeloma, develop novel viral and immunologic therapies, and optimize the use of existing
therapies with a goal of controlling and
eventually curing this deadly disease,”
said Leif Bergsagel, MD, lead investigator from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, in a
press release.
Iuliana Shapira, MD,
has joined State
University of New
York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center
as the chief of the
Division of HemaIuliana Shapira, PhD
tology and Oncology. Prior to joining
Downstate as division chief, Dr. Shapira
was associate professor of medicine
at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of
Medicine, where she served as director
of its Center for Cancer Genetics and
Cancer Control and site co-investigator
for numerous studies under a Cancer
Community Oncology Program (CCOP)
grant from the National Institutes of
Health (NIH).
Source: Mayo Clinic press release
Source: SUNY Downstate Medical Center press release
Multiple Myeloma
Researchers from Mayo
Clinic Awarded NCI’s
SPORE Grants
A team of scientists from the Mayo Clinic
Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota,
has been awarded a Specialized Program
of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant
in multiple myeloma from the National
Cancer Institute. “With project leaders
from Mayo campuses in Arizona, Rochester, and Florida, our SPORE team will
UC San Diego Cancer Researchers Receive Outstanding Investigator
Awards
Four researchers from the University of
California San Diego School of Medicine have received the newly established National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Outstanding Investigator Award. The
multi-million dollar awards fund new
projects that have an unusual potential
in cancer research over seven years. The
recipients are:
• Kun-Liang Guan, PhD, distinguished professor in the Department of Pharmacology, who will
receive $5.9 million for his work
with mTORC1 and Hippo pathways
in cell growth and cancer
• Tannishtha Reya, PhD, professor in
the Department of Pharmacology
and Medicine, who was awarded
$6.3 million for her project on molecular strategies for early detection and targeting of cancer
• Jin Zhang, PhD, professor in the
Department of Pharmacology, who
will receive $6.5 million to evaluate
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