Newswise — Charles M. Perou, PhD, will receive the AACI Distinguished Scientist Award on October 1, during the 2018 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, in Chicago. Prior to the award presentation, Dr. Perou will deliver a talk focused on sequencing studies for gene expression analysis, specifically, on research results showing the value of sequencing-based approaches in breast and lung cancers.

Dr. Perou is The May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology, Professor of Genetics and of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research interests span the disciplines of cancer biology, genomics, genetics, bioinformatics, statistics, systems biology, and the treatment of cancer patients in the clinic.

AACI’s award recognizes Dr. Perou’s research accomplishments in the field of precision medicine and his groundbreaking research in the characterization of the diversity of human tumors. The clinical value of Dr. Perou’s work leading to the discovery of the “Intrinsic Subtypes of Breast Cancer” has had a profound impact on the treatment of patients with breast cancer worldwide.  In addition, his lab has successfully created computational predictors of complex cancer phenotypes which will ultimately have clinical application.

Dr. Perou has been a faculty member at UNC since 2000 and is the Faculty Director of UNC Lineberger’s Bioinformatics Group, and Co-Director of its Breast Cancer Research Program. He has authored more than 330 peer-reviewed articles, and am an inventor on five American and European patents. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Bates College, his doctorate in cell biology from the University of Utah, and performed his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. David Botstein (then at Stanford University).

Previous AACI distinguished scientist honorees are Drs. Carl June, James Allison, Lewis Cantley, Tim Ley, Brian Druker, Lee Hartwell, Mary-Claire King, Janet Rowley, Stuart Schreiber, Bert Vogelstein, Robert Weinberg and Irving Weissman.

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The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) comprises 98 premier academic and freestanding cancer research centers in the U.S. and Canada. AACI is dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer by enhancing the impact of the leading academic cancer centers.