Event on 18 June 2018: Prof. Dr. Ruth Pfeiffer
Dr. Ruth Pfeiffer is a Senior Investigator in the Biostatistics Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a leading expert in the development of statistical methods and tools to address pressing questions in cancer risk prediction and epidemiology. Her research focuses on the development of absolute risk prediction models or breast and colorectal cancer, as well as techniques to resolve the many challenges that arise in the analysis of germline genetic information for etiologic studies. In addition to her robust research program, Dr. Pfeiffer mentors pre and postdoctoral fellows and junior investigators and advocates for the interests of women scientists as an elected representative to the NIH Women Scientist Advisors Committee. Dr. Pfeiffer received an M.S. degree in applied mathematics from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, and an M.A. degree in applied statistics and Ph.D. in mathematical statistics from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, an elected Member of the International Statistical Institute, and an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association.
Event on 10 June 2015: Prof. Dr. Børresen-Dale
Prof. Dr. Børresen-Dale (PhD, MD (h.c.), Head of Department of Genetics, Director of The K.G. Jebsen Center for Breast Cancer Research, Oslo University) is among the leading geneticists in research on molecular biology of breast cancer, her group pioneered expression profiling of breast carcinomas in collaboration with groups at Stanford, demonstrating that breast cancer can be divided into distinct sub- groups with differences in molecular profiles and in overall and relapse-free survival. Her achievements are seminal for understanding breast cancer evolution, and have had an enormous impact on our view of the complexity of breast cancer. Her current research projects focus on ‘Exploring the Systems Biology of Breast Cancer’ using high dimensional data in integrated approaches aiming at identification of genotypes and gene expression profiles contributing to elevated cancer risk, radiation sensitivity, tumor aggressiveness and therapy resistance. She has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and invited reviews.
Professor Børresen-Dale has received several prizes and awards, inter alia the Swiss Bridge Award for outstanding Cancer Research in 2004, the Møbius Prize for Outstanding Research in 2008, and, most recently, the Helmholtz International Fellow Award. In addition to her scientific merits, she is an active member of various national and international boards, e.g. the Board of Directors of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) and European Association of Cancer Research (ECCO), is Past President of the European Association of Cancer Research (EACR), and is Elected Member of The Royal Academy of Science, Norway, The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and the European Academy of Cancer Sciences. Since 2010 and 2013 respectively, she is an exceptionally dedicated member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of the DKFZ and the DKTK.
Event on 5 May 2014: Prof. Dr. Connie Eaves
Prof. Dr. Connie Eaves (BA & MSc, Queens University, Canada; PhD University of Manchester, UK) was a co-founder of the Terry Fox Laboratory in 1981, and has served both as its Deputy Director and Director. She has received numerous scholarships and awards, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, receipt of the NCI (Canada) Robert L. Noble Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research, the American Society of Hematology Henry Stratton Medal for Life- time Achievement and the 2013 Rowley Prize of the International CML Foundation. During her PhD, she discovered that two cell populations contribute to the generation of antibody responses, heralding the subsequent recognition of B and T cells. She has since contributed seminal advances to our understanding of normal and leukemic blood stem and progenitor cells. Over the last decade, she has also become an expert in breast stem cells. She has published more than 450 papers and continues to direct a dynamic research group. She is a major protagonist of excellence in training, having personally supervised more than 90 graduate students and post-MD and post-PhD fellows. She has also previously served in many senior leadership positions (including President of the International Society for Experimental Hematology, President of the former National Cancer Institute of Canada, Vice-President of Research at the BC Cancer Agency, member of the Board of Genome Canada an ISSCR), and she continues to be active in promoting and advising several collaborative translational and interdisciplinary research programs and networks.
Event on 13 May 2013: Dr. Margaret Foti
Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.) is since 1982 the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the oldest and largest cancer organization in the world dedicated to the conquest of cancer. Dr. Foti holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, and has been awarded several Honorary Doctorate degrees for her contributions to cancer research worldwide. She works closely with cancer organizations around the world and has been a board member of many groups, such as the Friends of Cancer Research, European Association for Cancer Research, and the National Coalition for Cancer Research, among others. She has received numerous national and international awards for her significant and unwavering contributions to cancer research. Her work has led to a myriad of synergies and vital links between basic, translational, and clinical scientists, and it has had a major impact on moving the field forward. In 2008, Dr. Foti further expanded the role of the AACR as a grant giving organization and scientific partner of Stand Up To Cancer, an international translational cancer research initiative. As CEO and Secretary-Treasurer of the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer, Dr. Foti works tirelessly to support the global community of cancer researchers, clinicians, advocates, and patients alike toward the goal of accelerating progress against cancer and saving lives from cancer.
Event on 22 October 2012: Prof. Janet Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley was born in New York City in 1925. Since 1984 she is the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago and is serving as the interim deputy dean for science since 2001. She discovered the first consistent chromosome translocation in any human cancer and identified more than a dozen different recurring translocations in children and adults with leukemia and lymphoma. Here discoveries changed the view of cancer researchers and led to cures for previously untreatable cancers and the development of targeted therapies. Rowley has received innumerable outstanding awards like the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Japan Prize in 2012.
Event on 11 May 2012: Prof. Lisa Coussens
Prof. Dr. Coussens has been for many years professor at the University of California San Francisco. Since 2011 she is the Chair of the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology in the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. There she was also appointed Director of Basic Research and awarded the Hildegard Lamfrom Chair in Basic Science. Dr. Coussens has an international reputation for exceptional high-impact research, which focuses on understanding the role of the tumor microenvironment in regulating cancer development, metastasis and response to therapy. She is deply ecommitted to educating and mentoring the next generation of scientists.