Center for Medicine in the Public Interest & Scientific American Worldview Honor Top Medical Innovators in Hematology

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest (CMPI) joined with Scientific American Worldview to recognize Worldview’s Top Medical Innovators, four scientists whose work has transformed the diagnosis and treatment of blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

At a reception and dinner held at the California Academy of Sciences, the two organizations recognized the following individuals:

• Carl June, MD
  Director of Translational Research, University of Pennsylvania Medical System, Abrahamson Cancer Center Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
  For developing chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR-T) that reprogram patients’ own immune cells ‒ known as T-cells – to target and kill specific types of tumor cells.
• Colin Hill
  CEO and Co-Founder, GNS Healthcare
  For developing the predictive models using Big Data, genomics and artificial intelligence to determine what treatment works best for each patient.

• Patricia Ernst, PhD
  Professor of Pediatrics & Pharmacology, University of Colorado
  For the discovery of epigenetic mechanisms that distinguishes normal blood stem cells from blood cancers.

• Robert Hariri, MD, PhD
  Chief Scientific Officer and Former Chief Executive Officer of Celgene Cellular Therapeutics
  For pioneering the use of pluripotent stem cells from the placenta to treat a range of life-threatening diseases including blood cancers.

Robert Goldberg, CMPI’s Vice President noted, “Each honoree has made a unique contribution to our nation’s health and to the wellbeing of people with cancer by acting on their ideas with courageous optimism. In doing so, they have advanced science and saved lives. These top innovators move at the speed of life. Their accomplishments inspire us to remember that the value of medical innovation transcends saving money in the short term. We are grateful to the Scientific American Worldview program for the opportunity to recognize these top innovators.”

Jeremy Abbate, Scientific American’s Vice President, Global Media Alliances and Publishing Director of Worldview, a global view of biotechnology innovation, added, “We are honored to recognize the efforts of these remarkable people who possess the vision, determination and entrepreneurial spirit that fuels medical progress. Innovation is not sustainable unless we support the ability of scientists like our honorees to imagine, invent and commercialize.”