The Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research, established by

National Foundation for Cancer Research National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1973. It provides funds to cancer scientists and researchers, with the ultimate goal of a cure for cancer. Awards The Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progre ...

(NFCR) and named in honor of

Albert Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt ( hu, nagyrápolti Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre; September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with fi ...

, 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. GyorgyiNIH

The Szent-Györgyi Prize is named in honor of

, 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.

Szent-Györgyi Prize Recipients

Sources
NFCRNFCR
* 2021:

Tak Wah Mak Tak Wah Mak, (; born October 4, 1946, in China) is a Canadian medical researcher, geneticist, oncologist, and biochemist. He first became widely known for his discovery of the T-cell receptor in 1983 and pioneering work in the genetics of immun ...

, Ph.D. - senior scientist at the

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...

and university professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

* 2021:

Mark M. Davis Mark Morris Davis (born 27 November 1952) ForMemRS is director and Avery Family Professor of Immunology in the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection at Stanford University. Education Davis was educated at Johns Hopkins University ...

, Ph.D. - Professor of microbiology and immunology at the

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

* 2020:

Susan Band Horwitz Susan Band Horwitz is an American biochemist and professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she holds the Falkenstein chair in Cancer Research as well as co-chair of the department of Molecular Pharmacology. Horwitz is a pioneer i ...

, Ph.D. - Professor and Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research at the

Albert Einstein College of Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a research-intensive medical school located in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein operates as an independent degree-granting institution as part of t ...

in New York * 2019: Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D. - Chief of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

Center for Cancer Research’s surgery branch in Bethesda * 2018: Douglas R. Lowy and John T. Schiller - both of the Center for Cancer Research at the

* 2017:

Michael N. Hall Michael Nip Hall (born 1953) is an American-Swiss molecular biologist and professor at the Biozentrum University of Basel, Switzerland. Life Hall grew up in South America (Venezuela, Peru). He earned a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the ...

, Ph.D. - Professor of Biochemistry, Biozentrum of the University of Basel, Switzerland * 2016:

Mary-Claire King Mary-Claire King (born February 27, 1946) is an American geneticist. She was the first to show that breast cancer can be inherited due to mutations in the gene she called ''BRCA1''. She studies human genetics and is particularly interested in g ...

, Ph.D. - Professor of Medicine (Medical Genetics) and Genome Sciences at University of Washington * 2015:

Frederick Alt Frederick W. Alt is an American geneticist. He is a member of the Immunology section of the National Academy of Sciences and a Charles A. Janeway Professor of Pediatrics, and Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director ...

, Ph.D. - Professor of Genetics at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.

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 ...

Investigator *2014 :

James P. Allison James Patrick Allison (born August 7, 1948) is an American immunologist and Nobel laureate who holds the position of professor and chair of immunology and executive director of immunotherapy platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the Uni ...

, Ph.D. - Chairman, Department of Immunology at the

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies *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 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 ...

, contributed to a major breakthrough in the treatment of

Chronic Myelogenous 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 ...

(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:

Zhen-Yi Wang Wang Zhenyi (; born November 30, 1924), also known as Zhen-yi Wang, is a Chinese pathophysiologist and hematologist who is a professor emeritus of Medicine and Pathophysiology at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). He is most well known ...

, M.D. - Professor at the School of Medicine of

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

. Honorary Director of the Shanghai Institute of Haematology. Member of the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

and the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

*2012:

Zhu Chen Zhu Chen (, ar, زو تشن; born March 13, 1976) is a Chinese-born Qatari chess Grandmaster. In 1999, she became China's second women's world chess champion after Xie Jun, and China's 13th Grandmaster. In 2006, she obtained Qatari c ...

, M.D., Ph.D. - Minister of Health of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Professor at the School of Medicine of

' 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 *2011:

Beatrice Mintz Beatrice Mintz (January 24, 1921 – January 3, 2022) was an American embryologist who contributed to the understanding of genetic modification, cellular differentiation, and cancer, particularly melanoma.Martha J. Bailey, ''American women in ...

, Ph.D. - Professor and Jack Schultz Chair in Basic Science,

Fox Chase Cancer Center Fox Chase Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center research facility and hospital located in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The main facilities of the center are loca ...

. Member of the

United States 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 ...

and the

Pontifical Academy of Sciences The Pontifical Academy of Sciences ( it, Pontificia accademia delle scienze, la, Pontificia Academia Scientiarum) is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the math ...

*2010: Peter K. Vogt, Ph.D. - Professor in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine,

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research, previously known as The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institu ...

. Member of the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, the

Institute of Medicine of the National Academies 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, Eng ...

, and the

American Academy of Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

*2009:

Ronald A. DePinho Ronald A. DePinho (born 1955) is an American physician and research scientist. He served as president of MD Anderson Cancer Center from 2011 to 2017. DePinho states that his concern for reducing the burden of cancer suffering became his life goal ...

, M.D. - President of

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the U.S. and one of the original three comprehensive cancer centers ...

. (Prize received as Professor and Director, Belter Institute Department of Medicine and Genetics, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and

). Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies *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 *2007: Webster K. Cavenee, Ph.D. - Director of the

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of scientists focused on cancer research, with the goal of preventing and controlling cancer. It encompasses the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, an international non-profit organization f ...

, San Diego Branch. Distinguished Professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies *2006: Harold F. Dvorak, M.D. - Mallinckrodt Professor Emeritus of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Chief of the Department of Pathology at

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. It was formed out of the 1996 merger of Beth Israel Hospital (founded in 1916) and New England Deaconess Hospital (founded ...

National Foundation for Cancer Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szent-Gyorgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research American awards Cancer research awards Awards established in 2006

Szent-Györgyi Prize Recipients

See also

References