Winner of “America’s Nobel,” the Lasker Award, among presenters
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Grand Rapids, Mich. (June 18, 2010)
– Approximately 350 life science professionals and students in Grand Rapids today will explore the origins of cancer with leading national cancer researchers at Van Andel Institute’s 2nd annual Origins of Cancer symposium. Among the presenters is Dr. Janet Rowley, 1998 winner of the Lasker Award, popularly referred to as “America’s Nobel.”
Topics include lung cancer, gastric cancer, personalized cancer management, and the various causes of cancer. The symposium is unique in that it spans the breadth of cancer research and the diversity of the disease’s origins, including viral, infectious, environmental and genetic causes.
The symposium is sponsored by the Foundation for Advanced Cancer Studies (FACS) and Metro Health Hospital. FACS was founded by Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) founding Director George Vande Woude, Ph.D., and sponsored the popular Oncogene Meetings for cancer researchers that were held for 20 years starting in 1985.
“The Origins of Cancer mini-symposia continue the spirit of the Oncogene Meetings while helping to establish a Midwest science community that someday will rival that of our colleagues on the East and West coasts of the USA," said Vande Woude.
Attendees from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, and New York will hear from eight leading scientists in cancer research, including 1998 Lasker Award winner Dr. Janet Rowley of the University of Chicago. The Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world, and are popularly known as "America's Nobels;" 79 Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize.
Dr. Rowley identified the first "translocation" in cancer, an occurrence in which a piece of one chromosome breaks off and joins another chromosome. Her work has been immensely influential; chromosomal translocation is now considered the primary cause of many cancers including lymphoma and leukemia.
Other presenters hail from Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, National Human Genome Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
“This symposium brings together a group of world renowned scientists who are leaders in cancer causation, diagnosis and treatment,” said VARI President and Director Dr. Jeffrey Trent.
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Established by Jay and Betty Van Andel in 1996, Van Andel Institute (VAI) is an independent research and educational organization based in Grand Rapids, Mich., dedicated to preserving, enhancing and expanding the frontiers of medical science, and to achieving excellence in education by probing fundamental issues of education and the learning process. VARI, the research arm of VAI, is dedicated to probing the genetic, cellular and molecular origins of cancer, Parkinson and other diseases and working to translate those findings into effective therapies. This is accomplished through the work of over 200 researchers in 18 on-site laboratories and in collaborative partnerships that span the globe.
The mission of the Foundation for Advanced Cancer Studies Inc. (FACS) is to accelerate and facilitate the flow of cancer research information from the laboratory to scientists, clinicians, and the public and to promote support for scientists working in basic cancer research laboratories.
