Steve Jackson wins prestigious cancer research award from the Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer.
Fondation ARC is the largest French foundation dedicated entirely to cancer research, and is funded by public donations. Their mission is to support research in the fight to eradicate cancers, with an ambitious goal to "cure 2 cancers out of 3 by 2025".
The Foundation's Léopold Griffuel Award is a prestigious European cancer research prize that has been awarded annually since 1970. Award winners are scientists and physicians who have made an important contribution to better understand, diagnose, cure and prevent cancers. The award was created according to the will of the late Mrs Griffuel by bequest, in honour and memory of her late husband, Mr Léopold Griffuel.
Fondation ARC has announced that two outstanding scientists will receive awards, including prizes of 150,000 EUR, in 2019:
- In Basic Research: Professor Laurence Zitvogel (UMR Inserm) for her research in immunology, which improved the understanding of the biological mechanisms of the anti-cancer immune response and immunotherapies. Her discoveries have changed the way the immune system is understood in relation to cancer treatment.
- In Translational and Clinical Research: Professor Steve Jackson (Wellcome/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, Department of Biochemistry) for his work on DNA damage repair and his role in the development of medicines such as PARP1 and 2 inhibitors, currently used for cancer treatment.
Professor Jackson said: "I am deeply honoured and delighted to be given this prestigious award for my research, which has been translated into patient benefit. The field of DNA damage repair has expanded substantially in recent years and continues to provide us with new avenues for understanding the causes of cancer, and identifying new therapeutic targets."
The Fondation ARC also announced that an award ceremony will take place in honour of the laureates on 10th April 2019 at the Salon de l'hôtel des Arts et Métiers in Paris, France.