Seven to share TAU prize for breast cancer research
Work focuses on protein transmitters responsible for structural arrangement of tiny bodies in the mammary glands.
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICHbreast cancer 88(photo credit: )
An Egyptian woman scientist, two Israelis, two Americans, one Belgian and one Italian will on Thursday share the $900,000 Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Foundation 2005 prize for outstanding work in breast cancer research.
The non-profit foundation, through the auspices of Tel Aviv University, has since 2002 aimed to reward outstanding individuals in basic science and clinical practice devoted to fighting breast cancer.
A special award will be presented at the TAU ceremony to Dr. Salwa Boulos, of the radiology department at Ospedale Italiano Umberto I in Cairo, for her "unique breakthrough work" in early diagnosis of breast cancer, the most common malignancy in Egyptian women.
Prof. Richard D. Gelber of Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is cited for his work on hormone replacement therapy for women who do not respond to conventional chemotherapy and for his efforts to prolong the lives of young women who contract breast cancer.
Prof. Yoav Henis, a neurobiochemist at TAU's George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, will be honored for his work on biophysics and imaging of breast cancer cells in three-dimensional cultures.
This work focuses on protein transmitters responsible for structural arrangement of tiny bodies in the mammary glands.
Prof. Joseph Kost, an expert in chemical engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, receives his award for his research on ultrasound as a tool for injecting a polymer implant with genetic material near the tumor.
Prof. C. Kent Osborne of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston receives his for research on resistance in breast tumors to endocrinological treatment, which aims at finding the causes of resistance.
Prof. Martine Piccart, head of the chemotherapy unit at the Jules Bordet Institute in Brussels, is honored for her work on gene expression that makes possible prediction of the progression of breast cancer and patients' chances for recovery.
Prof. Umberto Veronesi, scientific director of Milan's European Institute of Oncology, will be the keynote speaker at Thursday's event and will receive $150,000 (the others will receive $125,000 each).
He excelled in his research to develop a new technique of electronic radiation during partial mastectomy instead of a course of radiation over a period of six weeks.
