Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, to Deliver Annual Dave Memorial Lecture at Roswell Park December 11

BUFFALO, NY — Cancer research pioneer Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, a Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will deliver the 2012 Dave Memorial Lecture at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center (Roswell Park). His lecture, “Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Cancer Stem Cells and Malignant Progression,” will be given Tuesday, December 11 from 11 a.m. to noon in the David C. Hohn Lecture Hall, Research Studies Center, Roswell Park. The talk is free and open to the public.

Dr. Weinberg has received numerous honors and awards for his contributions to cancer research, and co-wrote one of the most influential and highly cited publications ever in the field of cancer research, The Hallmarks of Cancer. He led the teams that discovered the first human oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, ras, and the first tumor-suppressor gene, Rb. Currently, his lab focuses on studying the interactions between epithelial and stromal cells and how they contribute to cancer, as well as the processes by which cancer cells invade and metastasize.

The Dave Memorial Lecture was established to honor the late Chandrakant V. Dave, PhD, a professor at Roswell Park who was committed to the education and training of young scientists, and is hosted by the graduate students of the Institute’s Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics.

“We commend the vast contributions Dr. Weinberg has made and continues to make in these important areas of cancer research,” notes pre-doctoral trainee Benjamin Paluch, one of the Roswell Park graduate students organizing this year’s Dave lecture. “Many of his discoveries have shaped and will continue to shape our understanding of cancer biology and how to potentially prevent and cure cancer.”

The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.