Daniel Haber, M.D., PhD Awarded AACR-NFCR Tamara and Franklin Salisbury, Sr. Professorship

National Foundation for Cancer Research
Sunday, 2 April 2000

$100,000 Award to Support Continued Basic Science Research in the Genetics of Cancer

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced today that Daniel Haber, M.D., PhD of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center is the recipient of the AACR-NFCR Professorship in Basic Cancer Research. The award, granted in honor of Franklin and Tamara Salisbury who founded the NFCR, was presented to Haber for his work in the genetics of cancer which focuses on the characterization of tumor suppressor genes and the identification of novel genes that may confer predisposition to malignancy.

"Dr. Haber's research of the ataxia telangiectasia (AT) genetic disease is an important study of the link between children's genetic diseases and the risk of a mother's early development of breast cancer," said NFCR Science Director, Sujuan Ba, Ph.D. "We are pleased that AACR chose to award this first Tamara and Franklin Salisbury, Sr. Professorship to Dr. Haber. It is exactly this type of research that the NFCR supports in our efforts to discover the genetic mutations that cause cancer. Dr. Haber's research brings us one step closer to this understanding."

The two year AACR-NFCR Professorship in Basic Science Research, in honor of Tamara and Franklin Salisbury, Sr., was developed to recognize a scientist who is currently engaged in an active research career anywhere in the world and who has demonstrated extraordinary achievement in basic cancer research. The professorship, a two-year $100,000 award, is granted to individuals who show promise for substantive contributions to basic cancer research and is intended to foster research productivity and allow the individual to devote more time to basic research.

Dr. Daniel Haber, M.D, PhD

Dr. Daniel Haber, at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and the Harvard Medical School, conducts research in the genetics of cancer with particular emphasis on studying genetic predisposition and characterizing tumor suppressor genes involved in Wilm's tumor, a pediatric kidney cancer, and it's relationship to increased risk of breast cancer. For further information on Dr. Haber's work, visit www.mgh.harvard.edu/depts/CancerCenter/haber.html on the World Wide Web.

Franklin and Tamara Salisbury

Franklin and Tamara Salisbury are best known in the scientific research community for having founded the NFCR in 1973. Franklin, an attorney and entrepreneur, and Tamara, a research chemist at NCI and a project officer in the chemistry branch of the Office of Naval Research, were inspired by the work of Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of Vitamin C. This led them to found the NFCR based on a commitment to support basic science cancer research in the laboratory and sharing the best ideas of the best minds around the world. Both Franklin and Tamara were decorated in Belgium with the Order of Leopold II for their work in cancer research. Franklin also received the Pro Universitate Award from the Medical University of Debrecen, Hungary; the Quantum Biology Award from the International Society of Quantum Biology; the Medal of Merit from the University of Turin (one of only five in the 20th Century) and an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Wales.

The National Foundation for Cancer Research, a cancer related charity fully dedicated to advancing basic science research in the laboratory, was formed in 1973 to support research related to the prevention, treatment and cure of cancer. NFCR's mission, "Research for a Cure" is accomplished through the generosity of individual donors. NFCR has provided more than $168 million funding discovery-oriented research that has played a key role in many current breakthroughs in the prevention, diagnosis and new treatments of all types of cancer. For further information about NFCR, please call (800) 321-CURE or visit the website at http://www.nfcr.org/.

For more information, or to contact National Foundation for Cancer Research, see their website at: www.researchforacure.com