SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Duane Roth Endowed Lecture Committee today announced that it will recognize Laura Shawver, Ph.D., as the 2024 Award Lecture recipient. The award will be presented by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria during the 20th Annual Industry/Academia Precision Oncology Symposium on March 21 in La Jolla, California.
Dr. Laura Shawver is a healthcare pioneer who has created new paradigms in cancer research and treatment through her roles as a scientist, leader, patient and patient advocate. As an early career scientist, she conducted research on oncogenes, growth factors and signal transduction pathways. Following her own diagnosis and treatment for ovarian cancer in 2006, she founded The Clearity Foundation to help revolutionize ovarian cancer treatment and create a community of support for women living with the disease. Since her recovery from ovarian cancer, Dr. Shawver continues to seek ways to change the paradigm for cancer treatment through her leadership roles in biotech, both as a Chief Executive Officer and through serving on company Boards including those working on precision medicines, AAA ATPases, cytokines, cell therapy and mRNA therapies. She currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Capstan Therapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to advancing in vivo reprogramming of cells through mRNA delivery using targeted lipid nanoparticles.
“We are thrilled to be recognizing Dr. Shawver as a pioneer in cancer drug development and as a champion for those within the patient community with limited treatment options and resources,” said Ida Deichaite, Ph.D., director of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations and organizer of the symposium. “Dr. Shawver’s unwavering commitment to the cancer patient community, including her work in both the biotech and nonprofit sector, is inspiring and embodies Duane Roth’s commitment to creating new treatment options in oncology.”
About the Duane Roth Endowed Award Lecture
The Duane Roth Endowed Award Lecture is bestowed upon patient-focused leaders in health care whose work has overcome numerous scientific, financial, institutional, political and cultural obstacles to create new paradigms in research and treatment. Named after Duane Roth, an esteemed leader in the biotech industry who was tragically killed following a bicycle accident in 2013, the award is given to those who demonstrate his deep commitment to innovation and the patient. Past recipients include: Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., UC San Diego; Kristen Hege, M.D., Bristol Myers Squibb; Dennis Carson, M.D., UC San Diego; Scott Gottlieb, M.D., FDA, American Enterprise Institute, New Enterprise Associates; Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Carl June, M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Sandra Horning, M.D., Genentech; Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; Brian Druker, M.D., Knight Institute at Oregon Health and Science University; and Laura Esserman, M.D., UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Biographies of past winners and their accomplishments are available online.
About the Industry/Academia Precision Oncology Symposium
Since 2005, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations annually organizes the Industry/Academia Precision Oncology Symposium— a unique forum where distinguished investigators, scientists, and clinicians join top industry decision-makers to discuss the latest breakthroughs in translational oncology research. Talks include personalized medicine, targeted therapy discoveries, collaborative clinical trials paradigms and case studies of previous successful collaborative projects. An interactive panel session comprised of industry and academia panelists and the concluding networking reception allow for further dialogue of ideas and the fostering of collaborative relationships.
About the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center’s Office of Industry Relations
Industry Relations at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, a NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, builds relationships for collaborative translational oncology projects. With the power of industry/academia collaboration, the lead time and enormous costs of cancer therapy development are significantly reduced, overcoming numerous translational gaps that often cause clinical trials to fail. Industry Relations unifies the efforts of the sciences within cancer research to better stratify patients according to their biomarker profiles, reducing toxicity, improving drug development efficiency, minimizing extraneous costs and meeting patients' specific needs quickly.