The Laurence and Jean DeLynn Lecture will be held at 4 p.m., September 7, in the Fukushima Auditorium of the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center. The lecture is open to the public. A reception will follow in the Learning Center Commons.
The title of Dr. Slamon’s lecture is “Molecular Diversity of Human Breast Cancer: Clinical and Therapeutic Implications.”
Dr. Slamon, a native of southwestern Pennsylvania, is director of clinical/translational research and director of the Revlon/UCLA Women’s Cancer Research Program at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Los Angeles. He is also a professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and executive vice chair for research for UCLA’s Department of Medicine. Additionally, he serves as director of the medical advisory board for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a fund-raising organization that promotes advances in colorectal cancer.
Slamon and his colleagues devoted 12 years of laboratory and clinical research to test Herceptin. In recognition of Slamon’s work, President Clinton appointed him to the three-member President’s Cancer Panel in June 2000. He was also the inspiration behind a 2008 Lifetime Television film Living Proof based on the book HER-2: The Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer by Robert Bazell.
“It’s a great honor to have Dr. Slamon visit our campus to share his groundbreaking work on Herceptin, the first molecularly targeted therapy for breast cancer,” WVU Cancer Institute Interim Director William Petros, PharmD, said. “Hundreds of thousands of women worldwide have benefitted from the advancements he has made in breast cancer research.”
Slamon’s scientific endeavors have earned him numerous national and international awards, including the Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Millenium Award for significant achievement and leadership in breast cancer research; the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor, the top award bestowed by the organization; the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award and Lecture; the European Institute of Oncology Breast Cancer Award; the Lister Award for Translational Medicine from the University of Glasgow, Scotland; and the Gairdner International Award, one of the most prestigious awards in biomedical science.
Dr. Slamon’s lecture at WVU is made possible by the generosity of the DeLynn family. Jean and Laurence DeLynn established the DeLynn Lecture Series in 1992 with an endowed gift to the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center. The series provides educational and informational presentations in the area of cancer research, treatment, education, and prevention.
For information about the DeLynn Lecture series, see www.wvucancer.org/education/seminars-and-lectures/laurence-and-jean-delynn-lecture-series/.
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CONTACT: Sherry Stoneking, Public Relations Manager, WVU Cancer Institute 304.293.4599; sstoneking@hsc.wvu.edu
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