Seven BCRF Investigators Receive Top Awards at AACR 2022

The researchers received these honors at this year’s annual meeting in April

BCRF investigators are among the world’s most accomplished breast cancer researchers—and our researchers who received awards at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting are notable examples.

AACR’s meeting is the largest conferences dedicated to cancer research and researchers from around the world—including BCRF investigators—gave lectures and spoke on panels about their work on breast and other cancers.

BCRF congratulates the following seven investigators, who received some of the meeting’s top honors:

Dr. Christina Curtis received the “AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research” for her paradigm-shifting research on tumor evolution, including the Big Bang model explaining how cancers grow in the absence of therapeutic influence.

In her award lecture, Dr. Curtis described her innovative and intricate studies to identify cell characteristics that potentially drive them to become cancerous. Dr. Curtis’ work is advancing our understanding of the biology of the precancerous state and could lead to more precise detection and diagnosis of early and pre-cancer.

Drs. Alan Ashworth, Mitch Dowsett, and Ian Smith were honored with the “AACR Team Science Award” along with several other team members from the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital Breast Cancer Research Team. The team’s significant discoveries have led to improvements in breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Notably, they led the discovery of new therapeutic approaches, including PARP inhibitors and aromatase inhibitors, which have fundamentally changed breast cancer treatment strategies. The team’s work has also optimized radiotherapy dosing and uncovered molecular changes in breast cancer cells that lead to metastasis and affect vulnerability to therapy.

For their contributions to the field, Drs. Joan Brugge, Susan Domchek, and Martine Piccart were among the five receiving “The Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancers 2022 Meritorious Awards” in partnership with Pelotonia and AACR. This award specifically acknowledges these researchers for inspiring current and future generations of women studying cancer. Fellow BCRF investigator Dr. Electra Paskett presented these awards, as well.

BCRF is proud to fund the field’s best and brightest researchers dedicated to ending breast cancer.