Susan G. Komen names winners of 2018 Brinker Awards for Clinical Distinction

Susan G. Komen has announced the winners of this year’s Brinker Awards for Scientific Distinction, which “recognize advances in both our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of breast cancer and the clinical setting.”

The 2018 Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Science will be presented to Lisa Coussens, PhD, professor of cell, developmental and cancer biology at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland. Both winners are scheduled to deliver keynote lectures at the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December.

“We are excited to honor Dr. Coussens with this distinction,” Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, Susan G. Komen’s chief scientific advisor, said in a prepared statement. “Her work is helping lay the foundation for the development and clinical use of immunotherapies that will significantly impact the future of breast cancer research and treatment.”

The 2018 Brinker Award for Clinical Distinction in Clinical Research will be presented to Eric Winer, MD, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the breast oncology center at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

“Dr. Winer’s accomplishments in breast cancer research and in the clinic have impacted treatment for all stages and all the major biologic subtypes of the disease and led to lasting impact on patient outcomes,” George Sledge, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the division of oncology in the department of medicine at Stanford University, said in the same statement. “Throughout his career he has appreciated the impact treatment has on patients and has focused on developing greater individualization in treatment, so that we can achieve highly effective treatment with fewer side effects.”