image: This is Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. view more
Credit: Albert Einstein College of Medicine
February 10, 2011 – (BRONX, NY) – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the world's largest organization dedicated to cancer research, has awarded Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., the Rose C. Falkenstein Professor of Cancer Research and co-chair of molecular pharmacology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, its Eighth Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research.
Dr. Horwitz, who is also the associate director for experimental therapeutics at the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, is being honored for her pioneering research that established the mechanism of action of the cancer chemotherapeutic drug Taxol, also known as paclitaxel, which prompted the development of this drug as an important therapy for many common solid tumors. Taxol has been used by more than one million patients worldwide to treat cancers of the ovary, breast and lung.
"Dr. Horwitz has had a direct impact on millions of cancer patients around the world through her work in understanding the mechanisms of action of paclitaxel and other cytotoxic drugs," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "Her remarkable career and pivotal scientific contributions have influenced our understanding of how cancer drugs work and how to translate that knowledge into improved strategic treatments."
"This award has great meaning for me because it results from a decision made by my peers," said Dr. Horwitz. "This honor recognizes my laboratory and all of the students, fellows and visiting scientists, who have contributed so much to my research program."
Dr. Horwitz began investigating Taxol in 1977, after its isolation from the bark of the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia, by two medicinal chemists, working with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Within months of receiving samples from the NCI, she and her then graduate student, Peter Schiff, had discovered Taxol's mechanism of action. Some anti-cancer drugs kill cancer cells by disassembling microtubules, filament-like structures that play a key role in cell division. But as Dr. Horwitz found, Taxol works in a completely different manner. Instead, the molecule sends cells into overdrive, churning out extra microtubules that clog up the cells. Taxol freezes the microtubules into bundles, preventing them from disassembling. As a result, cancer cells have no way to divide and they soon collapse and die.
These pioneering studies led to clinical trials of the drug in the mid-1980s. Taxol is now involved in first line treatment of a number of cancers.
Dr. Horwitz has had a continuing interest in natural products as a source of new drugs for the treatment of cancer. Her research has led to an understanding of the mechanisms of action and of resistance to taxanes, a class of anti-tumor drugs.
Dr. Horwitz has authored more than 250 publications, advancing knowledge of antitumor drugs and mechanisms of drug resistance. She has received numerous awards including the Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award from the AACR; the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor; the ASPET Award for Experimental Therapeutics; the C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; the Bristol-Myers Squibb Cancer Distinguished Achievement Award; The Barnard Medal of Distinction; and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School. She received a Doctor Honoris Causa from Université de la Méditerranée in Marseilles, France.
Dr. Horwitz is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. She is a fellow of the National Foundation for Cancer Research and The American Society of Pharmacognosy and served as president of the AACR from 2002-2003. She was a key figure in the external advisory group that evaluated and recommended sweeping changes in the NCI's drug screening and drug development systems. Dr. Horwitz has launched countless careers from her own laboratory and inspired innumerable others to embrace questions that change the way scientists think about fundamental aspects of cell biology.
The AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research was established in 2004 to honor an individual who has made significant fundamental contributions to cancer research, either through a single scientific discovery or a body of work. These contributions, whether they have been in research, leadership or mentorship, must have had a lasting impact on the cancer field and must have demonstrated a lifetime commitment to progress against cancer.
Dr. Horwitz will receive the Eighth AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research at the opening ceremony of the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting on April 3, 2011 in Orlando, Florida.
Related Multimedia: Einstein On: Cancer, An Interview with Drs. Susan Band Horwitz and Mina Bissell
About Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University is one of the nation's premier centers for research, medical education and clinical investigation. During the 2009-2010 academic year, Einstein is home to 722 M.D. students, 243 Ph.D. students, 128 students in the combined M.D./Ph.D. program, and approximately 350 postdoctoral research fellows. The College of Medicine has 2,775 fulltime faculty members located on the main campus and at its clinical affiliates. In 2009, Einstein received more than $155 million in support from the NIH. This includes the funding of major research centers at Einstein in diabetes, cancer, liver disease, and AIDS. Other areas where the College of Medicine is concentrating its efforts include developmental brain research, neuroscience, cardiac disease, and initiatives to reduce and eliminate ethnic and racial health disparities. Through its extensive affiliation network involving five medical centers in the Bronx, Manhattan and Long Island - which includes Montefiore Medical Center, The University Hospital and Academic Medical Center for Einstein - the College of Medicine runs one of the largest post-graduate medical training programs in the United States, offering approximately 150 residency programs to more than 2,500 physicians in training. For more information, please visit www.einstein.yu.edu
About the American Association for Cancer Research
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.