Ludwig Harvard Co-director Joan Brugge received ASCO’s 2019 Science of Oncology Award and Lecture in June. Joan made her mark in cancer research isolating and characterizing the first product of a viral oncogene (Src) and its mammalian counterpart when she was a post-doctoral researcher. Her work contributed significantly to the current understanding of how dysregulation of intracellular signaling proteins drives the emergence of cancer. Her more recent studies have focused on using 3-D cultures to explore the cell biology and dynamics of breast cancer initiation and progression, the cellular heterogeneity of tumors and mechanisms of drug resistance in cancer. Joan’s award lecture covered the history of research that led to her work on Src, the roles of antioxidants in cancer and some of the mechanisms by which cancer cells overcome intrinsic barriers to malignant transformation, such as programmed death.
This article appeared in the November 2019 issue of Ludwig Link. Click here to download a PDF (1 MB).