Yesterday, the National Academy of Medicine announced the election of 90 new regular members and 10 international members in recognition of their outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service. Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in health and medicine. Among those elected are three remarkable members of The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research community.
We are proud to celebrate the accomplishments of these outstanding leaders.
Charles Swanton, FRS, FRCP, FMedSci, FAACR, PhD, The Francis Crick Institute
Charles Swanton is a two-time ASPIRE Award recipient in 2021 and 2023. A leader in the field of cancer evolution, his research explores how tumors evolve and the processes that drive cancer diversity. His ASPIRE-supported work investigates how non-mutagenic factors, such as environmental pollutants, promote cancer initiation and progression. Dr. Swanton became a member of The Mark Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee in 2024.
Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, Columbia University
Michel Sadelain is a principal investigator on a Mark Foundation Endeavor Award team that aims to leverage cellular senescence—a process that halts cell division—to make solid tumors, such as rectal cancer, significantly more vulnerable to CAR T and other immune oncology strategies. Dr. Sadelain’s trailblazing work in genetic engineering and cell therapy laid the groundwork for the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy.
Victor Velculescu, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Victor Velculescu is a former member of The Mark Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee and was the principal investigator for Alessandro Leal, MD and Jillian Phallen, PhD, while they were Momentum Fellows. Their fellowship project ultimately led to the launch of Delfi Diagnostics. Dr. Velculescu’s contributions to the field include developing the first genome-wide sequence analysis in human cancer and non-invasive technologies for early cancer detection.
“Election to the National Academy of Medicine is a profound recognition of an individual’s impact on human health,” said Mark Foundation CEO Ryan Schoenfeld, PhD. “The research these exceptional scientists have conducted in cell therapy, cancer evolution, and genomic diagnostics has fundamentally changed our understanding of cancer and opened entirely new avenues for treatment and detection, and we are proud to count them among our research community.”