Announcing the 2015 Fellows of the AACR Academy

February 18, 2015 by

The American Association for Cancer Research is thrilled to announce its 2015 class of fellows of the AACR Academy. These distinguished scientists were nominated and elected to this honor by their peers, the existing fellows of the AACR Academy. They will be formally inducted April 17, 2015 – the Friday before the AACR Annual Meeting 2015, taking place April 18-22 in Philadelphia.

AACR President and newly elected Fellow of the AACR Academy Carlos Arteaga, MD, speaks at last year's dinner recognizing the 2014 fellows.

AACR President and newly elected Fellow of the AACR Academy Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, speaks at last year’s dinner honoring the 2014 fellows.

This year’s class includes basic, translational, and clinical researchers who have made truly exceptional contributions to many different areas of cancer research and biomedical science. As I mentioned in an earlier post, classes are composed of 11 fellows in honor of the 11 individuals who founded the AACR in 1907. These 11 scientists elected to the AACR Academy have effectively moved the cancer research field forward and, through their discoveries, have laid important groundwork for many subsequent scientific research endeavors that have positively impacted cancer patient treatment and care.

My colleagues and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to recognize and work with this brain trust of global leaders to fulfill the mission of the AACR to prevent and cure all cancers. On Saturday, April 18, all newly elected fellows will join members of earlier classes to discuss the AACR’s scientific agenda as well as key issues currently affecting the cancer research community. Such strategic planning meetings of the AACR Academy offer a unique platform for the AACR to learn from the best minds in cancer research as to the direction and future of the organization, cancer research, and patient care.

We are grateful for the input provided by all of our fellows of the AACR Academy, as their expertise and guidance continues to be essential to the evolution of our organization.

The new fellows of the AACR Academy are:

  • Kenneth C. Anderson, MD, director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts;
  • Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, director, Center for Cancer Targeted Therapies; director, Breast Cancer Program; and associate director for clinical research, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee;
  • Anton J.M. Berns, PhD, senior group leader, Division of Molecular Genetics, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands; and director, Skoltech Center for Stem Cell Research, Moscow, Russia;
  • Bruce A. Chabner, MD, director of clinical research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;
  • Ronald A. DePinho, MD, president, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; 
  • Susan D. Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, chief executive officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington;
  • Robert N. Eisenman, PhD, member, Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington;
  • Douglas R. Lowy, MD, deputy director, Center for Cancer Research; chief, Laboratory of Cellular Oncology; head, Signaling and Oncogenesis Section, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland;
  • Carol L. Prives, PhD, Da Costa Professor, Columbia University, New York, New York;
  • Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, chief of surgery, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; and
  • Craig B. Thompson, MD, president and CEO, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.