BIDMC’s Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, named AAAS 2017 fellow

Teresa Herbert 617-667-7305, therbert@bidmc.harvard.edu

NOVEMBER 20, 2017

BOSTON – Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, Director of the Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

Pandolfi was elected as an AAAS Fellow in the Section on Medical Science for his “seminal contributions to the elucidation of the molecular genetics and biology of human cancer, which also led to the cure of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL).” His work in APL entailed identifying the genetic mechanisms underlying the disease, validating these mechanisms in mouse models and developing novel treatment modalities. The co-clinical trial platform for parallel experimental drug testing in humans and in mouse models in the mouse-hospital, which Dr. Pandolfi pioneered, bridges the clinical and research fields to advance progress toward novel cures. As a result of his work, APL is now considered curable.

“It is a great honor to be recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” said Pandolfi, who is also the George C. Reisman Professor of Medicine and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. “With stellar companion awardees hailing from across the universes of science, medicine and engineering, I’m humbled by the company I keep with this distinction.”

Pandolfi is one of 396 members awarded the honor of being named an AAAS Fellow this year on the basis of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Fellows are recognized at a special ceremony during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. This year’s AAAS Fellows will also be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 24, 2017.

“Under Dr. Pandolfi’s leadership, the Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has become one of the nation’s premier cancer research centers and is increasingly recognized as a fertile ground for important basic and clinical research that has the potential to transform patient care,” said Kevin Tabb, MD, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “Dr. Pandolfi’s discoveries in the field of cancer research have translated into lifesaving advances, and all of us at BIDMC are very proud that he is being recognized with this honor.”

For more information on the AAAS Fellows please visit www.aaas.org/elected-fellows.

About Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School and consistently ranks as a national leader among independent hospitals in National Institutes of Health funding.

BIDMC is in the community with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, Anna Jaques Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Lawrence General Hospital, MetroWest Medical Center, Signature Healthcare, Beth Israel Deaconess HealthCare, Community Care Alliance and Atrius Health. BIDMC is also clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Jackson Laboratory. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine, Science Signaling, a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances, Science Immunology, and Science Robotics. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org), the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS. See www.aaas.org.