(PHILADELPHIA) – Dec. 8, 2016 – Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center (MGHCC) and Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) have been named co-leaders of the Stand Up To Cancer-American Cancer Society Lung Cancer Dream Team, joining Co-leader Jedd Wolchok, MD, PhD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Stand Up To Cancer’s (SU2C’s) scientific partner, announced today.
Shaw and Jänne replace Jeffrey Engelman, MD, PhD, who left academic medicine for a position in industry. Wolchok is an original co-leader of the team, which was launched in 2015. Investigators from six other institutions – Yale Cancer Center, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, and University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center – are also serving on the team.
“We are pleased to have such a distinguished group of renowned researchers heading this Dream Team,” said Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, chairperson of the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee, institute professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and its Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “We are focusing a tremendous amount of talent on a very tough problem.”
“Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer in the United States among both men and women,” said Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society (ACS). “New treatment approaches are urgently needed.”
The Dream Team is investigating ways to combine targeted therapies and immunotherapies in the treatment of patients with lung cancer in which the KRAS gene is mutated.
SU2C and ACS joined forces to make this team one of the largest launched by SU2C, with a total budget up to $20 million. SU2C and ACS are each providing up to $10 million over the three-year life of the grant. Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is providing funding in the amount of $5 million to SU2C that supports the SU2C-ACS Lung Cancer Dream Team.
Shaw is director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at MGHCC and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Jänne is director of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology and scientific director of the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, both at DFCI, and professor of medicine at HMS.
Wolchok is the Lloyd J. Old/Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Chair in Clinical Investigation; chief of Melanoma & Immunotherapeutics Service; director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy; and associate director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at MSKCC.
##Media Contacts
AACR
Rick Buck
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Jane Rubinstein
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###About the Stand Up To Cancer Initiative
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about cancer prevention as well as progress being made in the fight against the disease. As SU2C’s scientific partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, conduct rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, Ellen Ziffren, and Kathleen Lobb. Noreen Fraser and the late Laura Ziskin are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., has served as SU2C’s president since 2011.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit www.standup2cancer.org.
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 36,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and patient advocates residing in 107 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 30 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with nearly 19,500 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.
About The American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of 2.5 million volunteers saving lives and fighting for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. As the largest voluntary health organization, the Society’s efforts have contributed to a 22 percent decline in cancer death rates in the US during the past two decades, and a 50 percent drop in smoking rates. Thanks in part to our progress nearly 14.5 million Americans who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will celebrate more birthdays this year. We’re determined to finish the fight against cancer. As the nation’s largest private, not-for-profit investor in cancer research, we’re finding cures and ensuring people facing cancer have the help they need and continuing the fight for access to quality health care, lifesaving screenings, clean air, and more. For more information, to get help, or to join the fight, visit cancer.org or call us anytime, day or night, at (800) 227-2345 or visit
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol-Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
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