Daniel J. Drucker, MD, to Present 2025 AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lecture

PHILADELPHIA – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will award the 21st AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship to Daniel J. Drucker, MD, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2025 to be held April 25-30 in Chicago, Illinois. 

Drucker is a senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, part of Sinai Health, and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada. He is being recognized for his unparalleled scientific contributions to endocrinology, physiology and metabolism, and the characterization of hormone functionality.

Drucker’s research has been fundamental to elucidating the role of glucagon-like peptides (GLP) in physiology and metabolism and their ability to modulate insulin secretion and blood glucose levels in addition to regulating appetite and nutrient absorption. His groundbreaking research has proven invaluable to recent and ongoing efforts to develop new therapeutics for the treatment of diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, short bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel and cardiometabolic disorders. His lectureship will explore how GLP research outside the cancer field has been and may be extrapolated to inform and inspire cancer research endeavors.

The AACR-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship was established in 2005 to acknowledge an individual whose outstanding personal innovation in science and whose position as a thought leader in fields relevant to cancer research has the potential to inspire creative thinking and new directions in cancer research. The recipient of this special lectureship is selected annually by the AACR President.

“I am so pleased Dr. Drucker has been selected as the 2025 Weinstein Foundation lecturer,” said AACR President Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD(h), FAACR. “I look forward to seeing how his groundbreaking GLP research will impact and inspire the oncology research community. Collaborative, cross-disciplinary research is essential to driving forward advancements in cancer prevention and treatment that meets the needs and expectations of our patients in the years ahead.”

Drucker’s scientific achievements have been recognized through numerous awards and honors, including the Endocrine Society Fred Conrad Koch Lifetime Achievement Award (2024); Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (2020); Society for Endocrinology Transatlantic Medal (2020); Endocrine Society John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship (2020); Helmholtz Diabetes Center Lifetime Achievement Award (2019); European Association for the Study of Diabetes-Novo Nordisk Foundation Diabetes Prize for Excellence (2019); Harold Hamm International Prize for Biomedical Research in Diabetes (2019); Ernest C. Manning Innovation Award (2018); Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders Scientific Leadership Award (2018); American Society for Clinical Investigation Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine (2017); Karolinska Institutet Rolf Luft Foundation for Diabetes Research (2017); City of Hope Rachmiel Levine Award for Scientific Achievement in Diabetes Research (2015); Manpei Suzuki International Prize for Diabetes Research (2014); American Diabetes Association Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement Award (2014); University of Cambridge Oon International Award and Lecture in Preventive Medicine (2014); Sinai Health Lloyd S.D. Fogler, QC, Award of Excellence (2012); Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Canadian Medical Association Journal Top Achievements in Health Research Award (2012); Endocrine Society Outstanding Clinical Investigator Laureate Award (2009); Prix Galien Canada (2008); University Health Network Inventor of the Year Award (2005); Bristol Myers Squibb Freedom to Discover Award for Metabolic Research (2004); Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) Senior Scientist Award (1999-2004); Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation Distinguished Scientist Award (2002); MRC Scientist Award (1994-1999); International Society for Bioactive Peptides Viktor Mutt Lectureship Award (1998); University of Toronto William Goldie Prize and Travel Award in Research (1996); Canadian Diabetes Association Outstanding Young Scientist Award (1996); Endocrine Society Richard E. Weitzman Outstanding Early Career Investigator Award (1993); Clinical Research Society of Toronto Alan Bruce Robertson Young Investigator Award (1993); University of Toronto Department of Medicine Research Award (1990); Ontario Ministry of Health Career Scientist Award (1989-1994); and MRC Research Scholar (1987-1989).

Drucker is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London (2015); appointed officer of the Order of Canada (2015); elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2012); elected member of the Association of American Physicians (2006); elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1995); and elected Fellow of the American College of Physicians (1989).

Drucker earned his medical degree at the University of Toronto. He received his medical training in internal medicine and endocrinology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and at Toronto General Hospital. He completed a research fellowship in molecular endocrinology with Joel Habener, MD, at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The date, time, and title of his award lecture will be announced prior to the AACR Annual Meeting 2025. 

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