Cancer researcher to receive 2010 AACR Award of excellence

For excellence in cancer prevention research

John D. Groopman, Ph.D., has been selected to receive the 2010 American Association for Cancer Research-Prevent Cancer Foundation Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research.

"We are thrilled to present Dr. Groopman with this award," said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. "His landmark work utilizing molecular biomarkers to identify the link between environmental carcinogens and liver cancer provides new prospects for prevention in high-risk populations around the world, and improves public health."

Carolyn Aldige, president and founder of the Prevent Cancer Foundation underscored the value of Dr. Groopman's work in stating "The role of most environmental carcinogens is not well-defined, but thanks to Dr. Groopman's pioneering efforts in this field, we now understand the causes of liver cancer, one of the largest cancer killers in the developing world."

Groopman, chair of the department of environmental health sciences, Anna M. Baetjer Professor in Environmental Health and associate director for cancer prevention and control at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, will deliver his award lecture during the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference on Monday, Nov. 8, 2010, from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. ET, at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

The award, now in its ninth year, spotlights a scientist's seminal contributions to the field of cancer prevention. Groopman is honored for his discovery, validation and application of molecular biomarkers to probe the etiology of liver cancer and the means to prevent it in the economically developing world.

Groopman's research elucidates of the role of aflatoxins, a common mold-derived food contaminate, in the induction of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is a major cause of morbitiy and mortality in people at high-risk living in developing countries such as Asia and Africa.

Groopman developed the first monoclonal antibodies recognizing chemical DNA damage products, and went on to develop a novel and innovative technology employing these antibodies in preparative strategies to isolate DNA damage products from bio-fluids such as urine. This methodology was reported in a set of papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the mid 1980's and subsequently has had wide ranging use in molecular epidemiology studies.

Groopman's initial biomarkers were rapidly translated into a multi-national investigation of the etiology of HCC that, for the first time, characterized the relationship between exposure to aflatoxin and infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV).