March 17, 2014, New York, NY—Ludwig’s Webster Cavenee received today the 2014 Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research. Issued by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the award recognizes a single researcher’s sustained contributions to the prevention and cure of cancer.
Cavenee, who has since 1991 been the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research San Diego founding director, is best known for providing the first direct genetic evidence for the existence of genes that suppress the formation of tumors, and for using such information to predict the development of cancer. More recently, he and his colleagues have sought to unravel the biological effects of a mutant receptor commonly associated with the brain cancer glioblastoma multiforme, tracing the signaling pathways by which it contributes to the malignancy and diversity of cells in such tumors. His laboratory is also exploring parameters that influence sensitivity to certain therapies against this cancer. Cavenee is presently one of the founders of an international consortium investigating the causes and treatment of brain tumors that seeks to develop a new model for collaboration and funding.
In addition to directing Ludwig San Diego, Cavenee is currently a distinguished professor at the University of California, San Diego. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the Leopoldina German Academy of Science and the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He also previously served as president of the AACR. Cavenee earned his Ph.D. with honors in 1977 from the University of Kansas, and conducted postdoctoral research at the Jackson Laboratory at MIT and the University of Utah. He has published more than 330 papers in scientific journals over the course of his career and has received some 90 awards and honors for his contributions to the biomedical sciences.
The award will be formally presented to Cavenee at the AACR Annual Meeting 2014, which will be held this year in San Diego, Calif., from April 5th to 9th.
About Ludwig Cancer Research
Ludwig Cancer Research is an international collaborative network of acclaimed scientists with a 40-year legacy of pioneering cancer discoveries. Ludwig combines basic research with the ability to translate its discoveries and conduct clinical trials to accelerate the development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. Since 1971, Ludwig has invested $2.5 billion in life-changing cancer research through the not-for-profit Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and the six U.S.-based Ludwig Centers.