Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research
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The Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, established by National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) and named in honor of Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel laureate and co-founder of NFCR, has been awarded annually since 2006 to outstanding researchers whose scientific achievements have expanded the understanding of cancer and whose vision has moved cancer research in new directions. The Szent-Györgyi Prize honors researchers whose discoveries have made possible new approaches to preventing, diagnosing and/or treating cancer. The Prize recipient is honored at a formal dinner and award ceremony and receives a $25,000 cash prize. In addition, the recipient leads the next "Szent-Györgyi Prize Committee" as honorary chairman.[1]
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The Szent-Györgyi Prize is named in honor of Albert Szent-Györgyi, M.D., Ph.D. was a pioneer who challenged the conventional thinking of the day to pursue his novel ideas. After winning the Nobel Prize for his study on vitamin C and cell respiration, Dr. Szent-Györgyi set his sights on finding a way to defeat cancer. He was a leading advocate for developing resources to provide scientists with the financial support necessary to pursue novel cancer research ideas and in 1973 co-founded NFCR with entrepreneur Franklin C. Salisbury. Since then, NFCR has provided more than $300 million in support of cancer research and prevention education programs.
NFCR established the Szent-Györgyi Prize to honor scientists who have made extraordinary progress in cancer research and to focus attention on the essential role of basic research in finding the answers to the mysteries of cancer. The Prize is also intended to stimulate continued investment in the pioneering research in the hope of producing scientific breakthroughs and lead to a deeper understanding of the scientific concepts behind the genetics and molecular makeup of cancer.
2013: Alex Matter, M.D. - Alex Matter was announced the recipient of the 8th Annual Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research for his contributions to the development of the first drug specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer.
This first targeted cancer therapy, imatinib mesylate, or Gleevec, contributed to a major breakthrough in the treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), followed by its successful application to other malignant cancers by turning off the signal of the protein causing these cancers. With Gleevec, the outcome of treating CML went from the dismal and often deadly to a nearly 90% long-term survival with little or no side-effects.
Dr. Alex Matter's pioneering research in probing the molecular anatomy of tumor cells in search of cancer-causing proteins represents the start of a new era in cancer treatment: Gleevec was the first drug that translated the insights of molecular cancer biology into a highly effective anti-cancer drug, which offered proof that molecular targeting works in treating cancer.
2012: Zhu Chen, M.D., Ph.D. - Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China. Professor at the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiao Tong University' Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the United States National Academy of Sciences, the United States Institute of Medicine, the French Academy of Sciences, the Third World Academy of Sciences, and the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities
2008: Carlo M. Croce, M.D. - Director of the Human Cancer Genetics Program and Director of the Institute of Genetics at The Ohio State University. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
