SCIENTISTS WIN $250,000 PRIZE FOR DISCOVERING ANTI-TUMOR AGENTS
General Motors Recognizes World's Foremost Cancer Researchers
Contacts: RTI - Reid Maness, [email protected], 919-541-7044
GMCRF - Sharon Hegarty, 248-458-8749
DETROIT -- Monroe E. Wall, Ph.D., chief scientist and Mansukh C. Wani, Ph.D., principal scientist at the Research Triangle Institute, have been recognized by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation for their major contributions to cancer research.
Dr. Wall and Dr. Wani were cited for the discovery of two chemotherapeutic compounds -- Camptothecin(tm) and Taxol(tm) (http://www.rti.org/patents/cancer/home.cfm). They will share the Foundation's Charles F. Kettering Prize, which honors the most outstanding recent contribution to the diagnosis or treatment of cancer, during a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on June 7.
Drs. Wall and Wani have shared a productive 38-year collaboration, and are well-known for their discovery of Taxol and Camptothecin, two anti-tumor agents they isolated from natural products in the early 1960s. Researchers at several laboratories found that both Taxol and Camptothecin had unprecedented mechanisms of action, making them the prototypes for new classes of chemotherapeutic compounds.
The work of Drs. Wall and Wani demonstrates the importance of natural product research and its use in the development of new forms of cancer treatment. Of the more than 100,000 plant and animal extracts screened between 1960 and 1981 by the National Cancer Institute, Taxol was one of only two compounds that survived the evolution to the pharmacy.
Taxol, widely considered one of the most important anti-cancer compounds of the past three decades, is currently used to treat ovarian, breast and lung cancer, and has been effective against Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer associated with AIDS.
Two water-soluble analogs of Camptothecin have been approved for clinical use in the U.S. since 1996. Work is underway at Research Triangle Institute and elsewhere to develop new, powerful applications for this compound.
"Being right on the spot when we made these discoveries has been a joy," said Dr. Wall, who, at age 83 is still actively at work in his North Carolina laboratory.
Dr. Wani, 75, concurred. "Nothing could be more gratifying than this," he said. "I have always been interested in the study of chemistry to develop medicines, and I am very proud of our accomplishments."
Still, he pointed out that the work of a cancer researcher doesn't end with one groundbreaking discovery. "There is always a need to find something better and less toxic," he said.
Dr. Samuel A. Wells, Jr., President of the GM Cancer Research Foundation, called Dr. Wall and Dr. Wani exemplary scientists and worthy recipients of the Kettering Prize. "The laureates were chosen through a rigorous process conducted by a panel of prestigious international scientists," he said.
Dr. Wall received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rutgers University. He is the recipient of two honorary doctorates, as well as recognition and awards from the American Society of Pharmacognosy, the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Wani, a native of India, received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Bombay and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University. Among his numerous honors are the Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award of the American Association for Cancer Research, the City of Medicine Award and the NCI Award of Recognition.
Cancer research has been a key philanthropic priority for General Motors for nearly 25 years. GM is committed to helping eradicate cancer and supporting cancer research until the battle is won. As part of this commitment, the automaker established the GM Cancer Research Foundation (GMCRF) in 1978 to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of basic scientists and clinical scientists in cancer research around the world.
"We believe strongly in giving back to the community," said GM Chairman John F. Smith, Jr. "Through these awards, we hope to bring some of the world's most gifted scientists just that much closer to preventing, treating and curing cancer in the future."
The awards, valued at $250,000, are among the most prestigious in the field of medicine. To date, GMCRF has awarded over $10 million to 87 scientists, in an effort to focus worldwide scientific and public attention on cancer research. Seven winners have subsequently won Nobel prizes.
Past laureates include E. Donnall Thomas, M.D., who developed the technique of bone marrow transplantation; J. Christopher Wagner, M.D., who discovered the link between asbestos exposure and lung cancer; and Samuel Shapiro, B.S. and Philip Strax, M.D., who demonstrated the importance of mammograms in improving survival in women with breast cancer.
In addition to Dr. Wall and Dr. Wani, 2000 laureates include
* Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize winners Avram Hershko, M.D., Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Alexander J. Varshavsky, Ph.D., professor of cell biology, California Institute of Technology;
* Charles S. Mott Prize winner Bert Vogelstein, M.D., professor of oncology, Johns Hopkins University and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The Sloan Prize honors the most outstanding recent basic science contribution to cancer research, while the Mott Prize recognizes the most outstanding recent contribution to the discovery of the cause or ultimate prevention of human cancer.
The five laureates will receive their awards at a ceremony that concludes GMCRF's Annual Scientific Conference, June 6-7 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference, which focuses on genomics and cancer, will include lectures by this year's prize winners describing their research.
Taxol, a word coined by Monroe E. Wall of RTI, is a registered trademark of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.
Camptothecin is a trademark of Research Triangle Institute.
VISUALS: Mug shots of Wall and Wani individually. Laboratory shot of the two together. Send email to [email protected] to request a file by return email.
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