The American Association for Cancer Research will honor 11 leaders in the oncology field at its 2026 annual meeting in San Diego, April 17-22.
- Kenneth Murphy, MD, PhD, will receive the American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology, which honors scientists whose research has changed the field.
Dr. Murphy is the Eugene Opie First Centennial Professor in pathology and immunology at St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine.
- James Allison, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research, which honors individuals who have made significant contributions to cancer research.
Dr. Allison is the regental professor and chair of the department of immunology, vice president for immunobiology, and founding director of the James P. Allison Institute at Houston-based University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He is also an AACR Academy Fellow. - Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research, which was established in 2007 in honor of Margaret Foti, PhD, MD, and her leadership at the AACR.
Dr. Ribas is professor of medicine, surgery, and molecular and medical pharmacology at the University of California Los Angeles, director of the tumor immunology program at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Center at UCLA. - Housheng Hansen He, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research.
Dr. He is a professor in the department of medical biophysics at the University of Toronto and senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, also in Toronto. - John DiPersio, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Blood Cancer Research.
Dr. DiPersio is the Virginia E. and Sam J. Golman Professor of Medicine and professor of medicine, immunology and pathology at St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Gene and Cellular Immunotherapy at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. - Cheryl Arrowsmith, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research.
Dr. Arrowsmith is a senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network and professor in the department of medical biophysics at the University of Toronto. - Charles Roberts, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research.
Dr. Roberts is the executive vice president and director of Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Lillian R. Cannon Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Endowed Chair at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, also in Memphis. - David Rimm, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR James S. Ewing Thelma B. Dunn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pathology in Cancer Research.
Dr. Rimm is the Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology, professor of medicine in oncology, director of quantitative diagnostics in the anatomic pathology lab, director of the Yale Pathology Tissues Service, and director of the Physician Scientist Training Program in Pathology at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University School of Medicine, and director of the Yale Cancer Center Tissue Microarray Facility, also in New Haven. - Elizabeth Platz, ScD, will receive the 2026 AACR American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.
Dr. Platz is professor and Martin D. Abeloff, MD Scholar in Cancer Prevention in the department of epidemiology at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and associate director of population sciences at Johns Hopkins’ Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. - Andrew Feinberg, MD, will receive the 2026 AACR G.H.A. Clowes Award for Outstanding Basic Cancer Research.
Dr. Feinberg is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine, Engineering and Public Health. - Dennis Lo, MD, PhD, will receive the 2026 AACR Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship. Dr. Lo is the vice-chancellor and president of Hong Kong-based Chinese University of Hong Kong.
- AACR Team Science Award will be given to members of the Cancer Dependency Map team from Cambridge, Mass.-based Broad Institute. The team is being recognized for its work mapping the genetic dependencies of cancer cells.
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