Drs. Carpten and Pettigrew Are Named to Stand Up To Cancer Scientific Advisory Committee
PHILADELPHIA – June 12, 2019 – Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) with its Scientific Partner, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), announced two new members of the SU2C Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC): John D. Carpten, PhD, director of the Institute of Translational Genomics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), and Roderic I. Pettigrew, PhD, MD, chief executive officer of Engineering Health (EnHealth) and executive dean for Engineering Medicine (EnMed), at Texas A&M University.
“We are delighted that Dr. Carpten and Dr. Pettigrew have agreed to join the SAC to help provide leadership and direction to SU2C’s scientific program,” said SAC Chair Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, institute professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Nobel laureate.
“Their expertise will be critical as SU2C continues to expand and diversify its portfolio of scientific investigations that are leading to a deeper understanding and more effective treatments for cancer in diverse populations,” Sharp said.
The SAC is composed of prestigious academic, advocacy, and industry leaders in cancer research. Its role is to provide insight and guidance to SU2C, setting direction for SU2C’s research initiatives, reviewing proposals for new grant awards, and conducting rigorous oversight of all active grants in the SU2C portfolio.
Carpten is an internationally recognized expert in genome science and a pioneer in understanding the role of biology in disparate cancer incidence and mortality rates among underrepresented populations. He is chairperson-elect of the AACR’s Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) Council and was Program Committee chair of AACR’s Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, which attracted more than 21,000 laboratory researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and other oncology professionals. Carpten also serves on the SU2C committee focused on health equity in cancer clinical trials.
He earned his doctorate in 1994 from the Department of Molecular Genetics at The Ohio State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer genetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He went on to the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, where became deputy director of basic research. In 2016, he joined USC’s medical school as professor and chair of a new Department of Translational Genomics and as director of a new Institute of Translational Genomics.
Pettigrew was the founding director of the U.S. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) of the NIH, serving 2002-2017. He oversaw $5 billion in research investments and is credited with building it into the signature NIH institute for emerging medical technologies.
His newest undertaking is EnHealth, an initiative to integrate engineering into all of the colleges of a university that are a part of the health care enterprise. EnMed is the first constituent initiative in a joint partnership between Texas A&M and Houston Methodist Hospital, to create a new training program that integrates engineering into medical training to develop a new kind of engineering-minded physician who invents solutions to health care problems. Each graduate simultaneously earns both an MD and a master’s degree in engineering and is required to invent something to address a health care challenge during his or her four years of study.
Pettigrew received a doctorate in radiation physics from MIT and finished his medical training at the University of California San Diego. He is known internationally for his pioneering work involving four-dimensional imaging of the cardiovascular system using magnetic resonance. An expert in the convergence of the life sciences, the physical sciences, and engineering, he has expertise in nanotechnology, regenerative medicine, and point-of-care technologies.
Since its inception in 2008, SU2C has launched 26 “Dream Teams” of top researchers at different leading institutions, each attacking a specific cancer or problem in cancer research, among a total of 101 team science grants. SU2C has also awarded 46 Innovative Research Grants (IRG) to early-career scientists to support cutting-edge cancer research that would be deemed too high-risk to receive funding through traditional channels.
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About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was established in 2008 by film and media leaders who utilize the industry’s resources to engage the public in supporting a new, collaborative model of cancer research, and to increase awareness about cancer prevention as well as progress being made in the fight against the disease. Under the direction of our Scientific Advisory Committee led by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, PhD, SU2C operates rigorous, competitive review processes to identify the best research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants administration, and provide expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, Ellen Ziffren, and Kathleen Lobb. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Sung Poblete, PhD, RN, has served as SU2C’s president and CEO since 2011.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer, visit StandUpToCancer.org.
About the American Association for Cancer Research
Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 42,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and patient advocates residing in 120 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 30 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with more than 21,000 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit AACR.org.
CONTACTS:
Stand Up To Cancer
Jane Rubinstein
jrubinstein@su2c.org
646.386.7969
Zeno Group for Stand Up To Cancer
Hannah Bursack
Hannah.Bursack@zenogroup.com
312.396.9799 ofc, 312.868.3817 cell
American Association for Cancer Research
Richard L. Lobb
richard.lobb@aacr.org
215.446.8298