Susan Hankinson, Distinguished Professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, is being honored with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.
The award, which acknowledges Hankinson’s “remarkable contributions to the fields of cancer epidemiology, biomarkers, prevention and the etiology of breast cancer,” will be presented during the AACR Annual Meeting 2022 April 8-13 in New Orleans.
“I was very surprised but incredibly honored to receive this award,” Hankinson says. “I have looked up to many of the prior recipients for years because of their accomplishments, and several were important mentors to me. This makes receiving the award that much more meaningful.”
In addition, Hankinson is being recognized for leading the first large-scale blood and urine collections in women for biomarker discovery utilizing novel biospecimen collection protocols she developed, including one that collected samples timed for a woman’s menstrual cycle.
“Her seminal work revealed profound insights into the association of sex hormones, and other hormones, with breast cancer risk, and cumulatively has provided critical new knowledge into the hormonal etiology of breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal women,” the award announcement states.
In 2020, Hankinson was awarded the AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research, which recognizes an outstanding scientist whose work has inspired or has the potential to inspire new perspectives on the etiology, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of breast cancer.
Founded in 1907, the AACR is the first and largest cancer research organization dedicated to accelerating the conquest of cancer. Through its programs and services, the AACR fosters research in cancer and related biomedical science, accelerates the dissemination of new research findings among scientists and others dedicated to the conquest of cancer, promotes science education and training, and advances the understanding of cancer etiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment throughout the world.