Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research

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, M.D., Ph.D., Nobel Laureate and the co-founder of NFCR, has been awarded annually since 2006 to outstanding researchers whose scientific achievements have expanded our 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 will be honored at a formal dinner and award ceremony and will also receive a $25,000 cash prize. The individual winning the Prize will receive media and press attention and global recognition for his/her work. In addition, the Prize recipient will lead the next "Szent-Györgyi Prize Committee" as honorary chairman.

Albert Szent-Györgyi

The Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research is named in honor of Albert Szent-Györgyi, M.D., Ph.D. who was a pioneer, and, like many other explorers, he challenged the conventional thinking of the day to pursue his novel and promising 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.

Beyond his laboratory, Dr. Szent-Györgyi was a leading advocate for developing resources to provide scientists with the financial support necessary to pursue novel cancer research ideas. In 1973, he changed the face of cancer research funding by co-founding 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 is committed to upholding Dr. Szent-Györgyi's vision of curing cancer through innovation and collaboration. As part of this commitment, NFCR has established this 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 still elusive answers to the mysteries of cancer.

The Szent-Györgyi Prize serves to stimulate continued investment in the pioneering research that will produce scientific breakthroughs and lead to a deeper understanding of the scientific concepts behind the genetics and molecular makeup of cancer. By calling attention annually to achievements in this area, it is our desire to heighten awareness of the kind of research and discovery that must be accomplished before we can hope to produce cancer cures.

Szent-Györgyi Prize Recipients

2015 Prize Recipient: Frederick Alt, Ph.D.

Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School
Director of the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator

2014 Prize Recipient: 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 Prize Recipient: 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 Prize Co-Recipient: Zhen-Yi Wang, M.D.

Professor at the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Honorary Director of the Shanghai Institute of Haematology
Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the French Academy of Sciences

2012 Prize Co-Recipient: 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

2011 Prize Recipient: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 and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

2010 Prize Recipient: 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 National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and the American Academy of Microbiology

2009 Prize Recipient: 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 Harvard Medical School)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

2008 Prize Recipient: 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 Prize Recipient: 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
Member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

2006 Prize Recipient: 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^[1]

References

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

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