Victoria Lundblad, Ph.D. Awarded AACR-NFCR Professorship in Basic Cancer Research

National Foundation for Cancer Research
Monday, 8 April 2002

$100,000 Award to Support Pioneering Basic Science Cancer Research

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced today that Victoria Lundblad, Ph.D. of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas is the recipient of the 2nd AACR-NFCR Professorship in Basic Cancer Research. The award, granted in honor of Franklin and Tamara Salisbury who founded the NFCR, was presented to Lundblad for her work in the function of chromosome ends and of the end-replicating enzyme, telomerase.

"Dr. Lundblad's chromosome research is important in understanding the basic functions of genetic diseases," said NFCR Science Director, Sujuan Ba, Ph.D. "We are pleased to have this award go to such important work. It is exactly this type of research that the NFCR supports in our efforts to discover the genetic mutations that cause cancer."

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.

Franklin and Tamara Salisbury

Franklin and Tamara Salisbury are best known in the scientific research community for having founded the NFCR in 1973. Franklin, Sr., 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 Salisbury 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.

Since its founding in 1973, The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) has provided more than $180 million to fund research focused on understanding how and why cells become cancerous. Our worldwide "laboratory without walls" assembles the intellectual power to achieve one of medicine's greatest goals-the end of cancer. We believe that prevention, treatment, and cure depend on understanding cancer's genetic origins and environmental influences as well as the "individual" nature of the disease. NFCR's research discoveries are now on the threshold of being translated into therapies and potential cures for cancer patients. For more information, visit the website at www.researchforacure.com or call (800) 321-CURE.

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