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 Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Rapoltu Mare, Nagyrápolt (; 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 first isolating vitamin C and disc ...

, 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. 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
* 2024: Dennis Slamon, oncologist and chief of the division of Hematology-Oncology at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. * 2023: Isaac Witz, Ph.D. - Professor of immunology and cancer research at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

*2022 : Rakesh K. Jain, Ph.D. - Professor of Tumor Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Harvard Medical School * 2021: Tak Wah Mak, Ph.D. - senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and university professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

* 2021: Mark M. Davis, Ph.D. - Professor of microbiology and immunology at the

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

* 2020: Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D. - Professor and Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine 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, Ph.D. - Professor of Biochemistry, Biozentrum of the University of Basel, Switzerland * 2016: Mary-Claire King, Ph.D. - Professor of Medicine (Medical Genetics) and Genome Sciences at University of Washington * 2015: Frederick Alt, Ph.D. - Professor of Genetics at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

. Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at

Boston Children’s Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care Pediatric ...

Howard Hughes Medical Institute The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is an American non-profit medical research organization headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland with additional facilities in Ashburn, Virginia. It was founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes, an American busin ...

Investigator *2014 : James P. Allison, Ph.D. - Chairman, Department of Immunology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. 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, 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: Zhen-Yi Wang, M.D. - Professor at the School of Medicine of

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

. 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 a ...

and the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

*2012: Zhu Chen, 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. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. 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, Ph.D. - Professor and Jack Schultz Chair in Basic Science, Fox Chase Cancer Center. 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 *2010: Peter K. Vogt, Ph.D. - Professor in the Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute. Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

, the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and the American Academy of Microbiology *2009: Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. - President of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. (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, San Diego Branch. Distinguished Professor at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. 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 CenterNational 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