Charles L. Sawyers (born 1959) is a

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, fil ...

(HHMI) investigator who holds the Marie-Josée and

Henry R. Kravis Henry R. Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. They may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

of the Human

Oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

and

Pathogenesis Pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes from Greek πάθος ''pat ...

Program (HOPP) at

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute– ...

(MSK). HOPP is a program created in 2006 that comprises researchers from many disciplines to bridge clinical and laboratory discoveries.

Career

Sawyers received a BA from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

in 1981 and an MD from

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

in 1985, followed by an internal medicine residency at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. He became a HHMI investigator in 2002 while working at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center. Sawyers works on molecularly targeted cancer drugs, with a focus on developing a new generation of treatment options for patients. He shared the 2009

Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award is one of four annual awards presented by the Lasker Foundation. The Lasker-DeBakey award is given to honor outstanding work for the understanding, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and cure of diseas ...

with Brian J. Druker and

Nicholas Lydon Nicholas B. Lydon FRS (born 27 February 1957) is a British scientist and entrepreneur. In 2009, he was awarded the Lasker Clinical Award and in 2012 the Japan Prize for the development of Gleevec, also known as Imatinib, a selective BCR-ABL ...

, for the development of the ABL kinase inhibitor

imatinib Imatinib, sold under the brand names Gleevec and Glivec (both marketed worldwide by Novartis) among others, is an oral chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. Imatinib is a small molecule inhibitor targeting multiple receptor tyrosine kin ...

for patients with

chronic myeloid leukemia Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), also known as chronic myeloid leukemia, is a cancer of the white blood cells. It is a form of leukemia characterized by the increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow and the accumulat ...

and the second-generation ABL inhibitor

dasatinib Dasatinib, sold under the brand name Sprycel among others, is a targeted therapy medication used to treat certain cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Specifically it is used to treat cases that ar ...

to overcome imatinib resistance. He also co-discovered the antiandrogen drugs

enzalutamide Enzalutamide, sold under the brand name Xtandi, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) medication which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is indicated for use in conjunction with castration in the treatment of metastatic castrat ...

, approved by the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

in 2012, and

apalutamide Apalutamide, sold under the brand name Erleada among others, is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) medication which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer. It is specifically indicated for use in conjunction with castration in the treatme ...

approved in 2019, both for treatment of advanced

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

. Sawyers' cancer research is discussed in the second episode of '' Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies''.

Significant positions

Sawyers served as President of the

American Society for Clinical Investigation The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States. Organization and purpose The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 ph ...

(ASCI) in 2007 and of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in 2012. He was also appointed to the National Cancer Advisory Board by President Obama in 2012, and has served on the Board of Directors of

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

since 2013. He was a founding co-

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the '' Annual Review of Cancer Biology'' in 2017, serving until 2021.

Memberships

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

Awards

*Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award (2001) *David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award,

American Society of Clinical Oncology The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is a professional organization representing physicians of all oncology sub-specialties who care for people with cancer. Founded in 1964 by Fred Ansfield, Harry Bisel, Herman Freckman, Arnoldus G ...

(2005) *Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award,

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

(2005) * Dorothy P. Landon–AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research (2009) *

(2009) *

Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences is a scientific award, funded by internet entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan of Facebook; Sergey Brin of Google; entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner; and Anne Wojcicki, one of the ...

(2013) *Taubman Prize for Excellent in Translational Medical Science (2013) *Hope Funds for Cancer Research Award of Excellence for Clinical Development (2014) *

BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards () are an international award programme recognizing significant contributions in the areas of scientific research and cultural creation. The categories that make up the Frontiers of Knowledge Awards ...

in Biomedicine along with Tony Hunter and

Joseph Schlessinger Joseph Schlessinger (born Josip Schlessinger; 26 March 1945) is a Yugoslav-born Israeli- American biochemist and biophysician. He is chair of the Pharmacology Department at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, as wel ...

(2014) *The

Scheele Award The Scheele Award () is a scientific award given by the Swedish , an organisation mainly consisting of pharmacists. The award is given to commemorate the pharmacist and chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) and has been appointed since 1961, i ...

(2017), The Swedish Academy of Pharmaceutical Science.

References

External links

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center - Biography, Lab Description

Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program

* Vide
Talk by Sawyers at the NIH-Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Symposium, March 31, 2011.
* Vide

** Video: ttp://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6846788n&tag=contentMain;contentBody On outsmarting cancer - @KatieCouric, CBS news, September 8, 2010* Quoted
New Drugs Stir Debate on Rules of Clinical Trials, New York Times, September 19, 2010
* Quoted

* Video
Speaking with Charlie Rose: A discussion about Cancer Treatments, October 1, 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyers, Charles American oncologists Johns Hopkins University alumni Princeton University alumni 1959 births Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the National Academy of Medicine Howard Hughes Medical Investigators Recipients of the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award Fellows of the AACR Academy University of California, San Francisco alumni Annual Reviews (publisher) editors