Newswise — DUARTE, Calif. — Steven T. Rosen, M.D., provost and chief scientific officer for City of Hope, will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) on Nov. 18 at a Chicago gala attended by hundreds of supporters of cancer research. The award recognizes Rosen’s longstanding commitment to advancing science and medicine and providing extraordinary patient care.

Rosen sets the scientific direction of City of Hope, shaping the research and educational vision for the independent biomedical research institution and cancer treatment center. Working closely and collaboratively with City of Hope's scientists, clinicians and administrative leaders, he develops strategies that help the organization quickly turn breakthrough discoveries into practical benefit for cancer patients around the world.

“This Lifetime Achievement Award is a remarkable honor, especially coming from the ICRF, an organization that advances scientific understanding of cancer and supports innovations that are transforming lives,” said Rosen, who serves as director of City of Hope’s comprehensive cancer center, Beckman Research Institute and Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences. He also holds the Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director's Distinguished Chair. “I am extremely proud, and humbled, to be the recipient of such an honor.”

Chicago couple Bruce and Jacki Barron, longtime ICRF supporters, who will also be honored at the Tower of Hope Gala, will present Rosen with the award. Jacki Barron is one of Rosen’s former Northwestern patients who was treated for breast cancer, and she credits him with helping her beat cancer.Jennifer Flink, executive director of the ICRF’s Chicago office, said the organization is pleased to recognize Rosen, a nationally known researcher and cancer specialist, for his 36 years in the cancer field.

“We admire his devotion to providing patients with the most innovative cancer treatments, as well as his compassion and kindness,” she said. “This award allows us to honor not just his expertise and accomplishments, but also the humanity with which he approaches patients and other physicians.”

Prior to joining City of Hope in 2014 at its first provost and chief scientific officer, Rosen served for 24 years as director of Northwestern University’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chicago, where he was widely recognized for elevating the center to national prominence. It received continuous National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding beginning in 1993 and built nationally recognized programs in laboratory sciences, clinical investigations, translational research and cancer prevention and control. Rosen also was Northwestern’s Genevieve Teuton Professor of Medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, providing care for hundreds of patients with blood cancers and overseeing a basic science laboratory and clinical research team credited with improving the treatment of patients with blood cancers.

The author of more than 400 original reports, editorials, books and book chapters, Rosen’s research has been funded by the NCI, American Cancer Society, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. He’s also served as an adviser for several of these organizations and on the external advisory boards of more than a dozen NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers.

Recognized as one of the “Best Doctors in America,” Rosen is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Man of Distinction Award from the ICRF. He earned his bachelor's degree and medical degree with distinction from Northwestern University, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.

The ICRF, the largest organization in North America devoted solely to supporting cancer research in Israel, has funded cancer research breakthroughs in gene therapy, bone marrow transplant techniques, molecular process and drug therapies.

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