NOVEMBER 04, 2020, NEW YORK – Ludwig Cancer Research extends its condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Angelika Amon, who died October 29 from ovarian cancer. She was 53.
An investigator at the Ludwig Center at MIT, professor of biology and member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Amon was an inspired cell biologist and a revered mentor to many young researchers. A prolific scientist, Amon pioneered research on the underlying mechanisms and consequences of chromosomal abnormalities on fundamental processes of cellular life and demonstrated how those dysfunctions contribute to developmental disorders and cancer. Her work established, for example, how chromosomal errors are linked to a higher propensity for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in people diagnosed with Down syndrome. Other studies in her laboratory yielded insights into the relationship between stem cell size, function and tissue aging.
Amon was recently named co-director of the Alana Down Syndrome Center at MIT. She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a recipient of many awards for her research. Most recently, she received the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science in 2019 and, this year, the Human Frontier Science Program Nakasone Award.