The founding members and the current project team associated with The Cancer Genome Atlas Project received the 2020 AACR Team Science Awards.
TCGA founders and project team received the award during the AACR Virtual annual meeting II.
AACR is honoring the contributions of Anna D. Barker, chief strategy officer at the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, and former NCI principal deputy director, and Francis S. Collins, director of NIH, who were directly responsible for the project’s inception and establishment.
Also recognized with this award are past NCI Directors Andrew C. von Eschenbach, and John E. Niederhuber, whose leadership throughout the years of the TCGA pilot project helped with the financial stability of the project. Eric S. Lander, and Leland H. Hartwell, are recognized for their efforts associated with the establishment of the initial TCGA pilot project, specifically their contributions as co-chairs of the National Cancer Advisory Board’s Working Group on Biomedical Technology.
Also being recognized with this award are 34 other individuals who contributed to the success of TCGA, including those who were, and some of whom continue to be, involved with various facets of the TCGA network including the TCGA Project Management Team, TCGA Advisory Committee, Cancer Genome Characterization Centers, Genome Sequencing Centers, Biospecimen Core Resource Center, and the Data Coordinating Center.
Click here for the full listing of recipients of the first 2020 AACR Team Science Award.
The second 2020 AACR Team Science Award is being presented to Jean Claude Zenklusen, and the 129 additional members of the current TCGA project team for their recent and ongoing efforts to functionalize the data generated by the project. Zenklusen has served as director of TCGA in the NCI Center for Cancer Genomics since August 2013 and continues to lead the evolution of the program.
The Cancer Genome Atlas Project began in 2006 as a joint effort between NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute, bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines and institutions to create a detailed catalog of genomic changes associated with specific types of cancer.
The AACR Team Science Award was established by the AACR and Eli Lilly and Co. in 2007 to acknowledge how interdisciplinary teams enhance the understanding of cancer and/or the translation of research discoveries into clinical cancer applications.
