Honoring Rakesh K Jain, Ph.D. NFCR funded Scientist
We are so pleased to congratulate National Foundation for Cancer Research funded Scientist Rakesh K. Jain Ph.D. on his tribute event today in Cambridge Massachusetts. A great honor to be feted by his collaborators, peers and fellow scientists and educators at Harvard Medical School and the E.L. Steele Laboratories for Tumor Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital.. Dr. Jain first received funding from NFCR in Fiscal year 1998. He was a project Director from 1998-2013 and was elevated to NFCR Fellow in 2014.
We are honored and humbled by Dr. Rakesh Jain’s comments on how NFCR cancer research funding has made a difference in his work. We congratulate him as the 2016 Laureate of the National Medal of Science. His seminal cancer research demonstrated that anti-angiogenic therapy works by normalizing the abnormal, leaky vessels that usually surround and penetrate tumors. His discoveries deliver benefits from bench to bedside.
Here is a more technical excerpt of his work as it appears in our Annual Report:
Research Focus: Attacking Brain Tumor Blood Vessels
Dr. Jain is a leader in the field of anti-angiogenic therapy. His seminal research demonstrated that anti-angiogenic therapy works by normalizing the abnormal, leaky vessels that usually surround and penetrate tumors. This process both improves delivery of chemotherapy drugs and increases the oxygen content of cancer cells, making radiation therapy more effective. Dr. Jain is now focused on the role of angiogenesis in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). By identifying the characteristics that confer resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy in GBM patients, Dr. Jain’s research is helping doctors to better tailor the use of anti-angiogenic therapies for GBM patients in the clinics. Additionally, the molecular resistance pathways that Dr. Jain and his team identify will direct the development of novel agents targeting these pathways, which could extend the benefits of anti-angiogenic therapy for patients.
A forty year journey. Dedication, investigation and discovery and painstaking persistence. Dr. Jain, we at NFCR salute you and your work. Congratulations on all the recognition – well deserved. We have updated this post and are providing a photo slide show for all to enjoy of the event in Cambridge. NFCR’s.Chief collaboration Officer Michael Wang and CEO Franklin Salisbury were in attendance.
Click this link to see the slide show. Photography courtesy of Keith Spiro Media
