AACR Congratulates Newest Members of the National Academy of Medicine

October 21, 2019

Among those recognized are 19 members of the AACR

PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) congratulates its 19 members who have been elected to the 2019 class of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), including President and Fellow of the AACR Academy Elaine R. Mardis, PhD; Immediate Past President and Fellow of the AACR Academy Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD; Past President, President and Chair of the AACR Foundation Board of Trustees, and Fellow of the AACR Academy Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD; and Fellow of the AACR Academy Scott W. Lowe, PhD.

Election to the National Academy of Medicine is one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. The academy elected a total of 90 regular members and 10 international members from seven countries this year.

“On behalf of the American Association for Cancer Research, I wish to congratulate all of our members who were elected to the National Academy of Medicine this year,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Their dedicated efforts have significantly enhanced our understanding of the complexities of cancer and paved the way for lifesaving advances in cancer biology, prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment. They are highly deserving of this esteemed accolade.”

Four Fellows of the AACR Academy Elected to NAM

Mardis is recognized by the NAM for “developing sequencing technology for the Human Genome Project and identifying cancer mutations targeted by small molecule inhibitors.” In addition to serving as the current president of the AACR, Mardis is a senior editor of the AACR journal Molecular Cancer Research. Mardis previously served as a member of the AACR Board of Directors (2015-2018) and as chair of the AACR Annual Meeting 2018 Program Committee. She was elected to the 2019 class of Fellows of the AACR Academy. Mardis is the co-executive director of the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Institute for Genomic Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the Steve and Cindy Rasmussen Nationwide Foundation endowed chair in genomic medicine, and a professor of pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus.

Jaffee is cited by the NAM for “elucidating the complex interactions between T cell subsets and cancer and translating those findings into two generations of vaccine platforms to develop pancreatic cancer antigen and biomarker discovery approaches.” In addition to serving as the Immediate past president of the AACR, Jaffee is deputy editor of the AACR journal Cancer Immunology Research and scientific editor of the AACR journal Cancer Discovery. Jaffee previously served as a member of the AACR Board of Directors (2013-2016). She was elected to the 2018 class of Fellows of the AACR Academy and was recognized with the AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research (2015). Jaffee is the Dana and Albert “Cubby” Broccoli professor of oncology and deputy director, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

DuBois is honored by the NAM for “discovering the critical and mechanistic role of prostaglandins (PGs)/cyclooxygenase in colon cancer and its malignant progression, elucidating the role of PGs in the tumor microenvironment, and spearheading the now common use of drugs for human cancer prevention that target the PG pathway, like aspirin and other NSAIDs.” In addition to serving as president and chair of the AACR Foundation Board of Trustees, DuBois is an editor-in-chief of the AACR journal Cancer Prevention Research. DuBois previously served as president of the AACR (2008-2009) and as a member of the AACR Board of Directors (2003-2006). He was elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013 and was recognized with the AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research (2019), the Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Cancer Prize (2004), and the AACR’s Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Research Award (2002). DuBois is the dean of the College of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina and a professor in the Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Medicine, Charleston.

Lowe is recognized by the NAM for “pioneering the characterization of tumor suppressor gene networks and their involvement in carcinogenesis, therapeutic resistance, and cellular senescence.” Lowe has served as a member of the AACR Board of Directors (2005-2008) and as chair of the AACR Annual Meeting 2014 Program Committee. He was elected to the 2019 class of the Fellows of the AACR Academy and was recognized with the AACR-G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award (2018) and the AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research (2001). Lowe is an investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and chair, Cancer Biology and Genetics Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.

Fourteen additional members of the AACR elected as regular members of the 2019 class of the NAM are:

Nita Ahuja, MD, MBA, William H. Carmalt professor of surgery and chair, Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. For changing our understanding of the cells of origin in multiple tumor types, and the role of epigenetic dysregulation in gastrointestinal cancers, leading to the development of biomarkers for early detection of colorectal and pancreatic cancers, and epigenetic therapeutics.
Sangeeta Bhatia, MD, PhD, John J. and Dorothy Wilson professor, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. For pioneering small-scale technologies to interface cells with synthetic platforms, with applications in liver tissue regeneration, diagnostics, and cancer therapy, and developing human microlivers that model drug metabolism and liver disease, achieving novel high-throughput models for diseases such as hepatitis C and human malaria.
Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, FAAN, director and professor, Division of Nursing Research and Education, City of Hope, Duarte, California. For her pioneering work in the fields of palliative and end-of-life care, and developing and leading the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium, which has trainers in 99 countries and in every U.S. state and has impacted the lives of patients and their family caregivers.
Sharon Gerecht, PhD, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and Kent Gordon Croft Investment Faculty Scholar, and director, Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. For seminal studies on the interactions between stem cells and their microenvironments, and for engineering artificial cell microenvironments capable of guiding vascular differentiation, delivery, and regeneration of tissues.
Margaret Anne Goodell, PhD, chair, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, and professor, Center for Cell and Gene Therapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. For discovering fundamental principles underlying differentiation and self-renewal of hematopoietic stem cells, revealing how epigenetic regulation is required for differentiation and how the immune system coordinates hematopoietic regeneration in response to pathogens.
Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD, Novotny professor of pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; and section chief, Cellular Therapy and Transplant, Division of Oncology, and director, Cancer Immunotherapy Program, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia. For pioneering the development of an entirely novel therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and leading the first global engineered cell therapy trial that demonstrated effective sustained ALL remissions, making him a leader in cancer immunotherapy.
J. Silvio Gutkind, PhD, distinguished professor, Department of Pharmacology, and associate director of basic science, Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego. For contributions in the understanding of cancer signaling networks, and pioneering the study of the PIK3CA-mTOR signaling circuitry in oral and head and neck cancer progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance.
Daphne Adele Haas-Kogan, MD, professor of radiation oncology, Harvard Medical School, and chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston. For research on the study of genetic abnormalities of brain tumors and successfully translating laboratory discoveries to the treatment of cancer, which led to a multitude of successful clinical trials that have helped shape targeted therapies for adult and pediatric malignancies.
Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Waldemar Von Zedtwitz professor of immunobiology and professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology and of dermatology, The Anlyan Center for Medical Research, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Conneticut. For major discoveries in the areas of innate sensing of viruses, and instruction of adaptive anti-viral immunity, laying the foundation for key concepts in viral immunity and viral pathogenesis, and for introducing innovative approaches in vaccine design.
Ernst Robert Lengyel, MD, PhD, Arthur L. and Lee G. Herbst professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, Chicago. For his leadership on the biology of ovarian cancer and research that has advanced knowledge of signaling in the tumor microenvironment.
Anil K. Rustgi, MD, Irving professor of medicine and director, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, and associate dean of oncology, Department of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York City. For illuminating the importance of GI cancers genomics and genetics and demonstrating that p120-catenin, part of the adherens junctions, is a tumor suppressor gene in cancers and for being the first to link p120-catenin to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) in tumor metastasis, advancing therapeutic opportunities.
Mehmet Toner, PhD, Helen Andrus Benedict professor, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts. For creating microfluidic devices with “real life” clinical applications in cancer diagnosis, prenatal diagnosis, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering.
Catherine J. Wu, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and chief, Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston. For pioneering the design and implementation of personalized genomics-guided cancer immunotherapy that focused on vaccination strategies to address the challenges of cancer heterogeneity and evolution.
Richard Allen Young, PhD, professor, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. For fundamental insights into gene control in human health and disease, invention of widely used new technologies, and the development of novel therapeutics for cancer.

The AACR member elected as an international member of NAM is:

John Eu-Li Wong, MBBS, Isabel Chan professor in medical sciences and senior vice president (health affairs), National University of Singapore; and chief executive, National University Health System, Singapore. For innovation in health care delivery, administration, policy, and public health, and achievements in advancing cancer medicine in Singapore, incorporating scientific and technologic innovations as pillars of Singapore’s research strategy, and implementing innovative models of care in academic health systems for improvement of population health globally.

The AACR also congratulates the other distinguished scientists who were elected to the NAM. For more information about those elected to the National Academy of Medicine, see its news release.