The Chemotherapy+ Foundation Honors YCC Deputy Director

At the sold-out Innovation Gala of The Chemotherapy+ Foundation Tuesday evening in New York City, Yale's Roy S Herbst, MD, PhD, was awarded its prestigious Ezra Greenspan Award.

The annual Ezra Greenspan Award, named in memory of the oncologist who founded The Chemotherapy+ Foundation in 1968, was awarded to Dr. Herbst, in part, because "His mission is the enhanced integration of clinical, laboratory, and research programs, making him a pioneer in identifying biomarkers to bring novel targeted treatments and immunotherapies to patients with advanced stage lung cancers. This work led to the approval of several therapies such as gefitinib, cetuximab, bevacizumab, axitinib, which have revolutionized the field and greatly enhanced patient survival," a foundation release said.

“I am incredibly honored to be recognized by a Foundation that has done so much to support patients and advance cancer treatment,” Dr. Herbst said. “We are truly at an amazing time of science, technology, and clinical brilliance—we can and must make progress.”

The gala followed the foundation's annual three-day symposium last week. The theme of the 42nd Annual CFS was Innovative Cancer Therapy for Tomorrow. Dr. Herbst gave the Ezra Greenspan lecture on "Twenty Years of Progress in the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Cancer: Targeted Therapy, Immunotherapy, and the Emergence of Treatment for Early Disease."

The foundation's mission is to "identify, develop, and sustain emerging talent in oncology in the Tri-state area with a focus on funding translational and collaborative research projects that evolve into novel interventions for the prevention and treatment of cancer....Our legacy of success since 1968 continues to grow, powered by the community that has expanded to encompass 11 research institutions." It is a not-for-profit organization.

TCF includes the cancer centers at Columbia University, Hackensack Meridian, Mount Sinai, Montefiore Einstein, Northwell Health, Perlmutter Cancer Center, Rutgers Health, SUNY Downstate, Stony Brook, Weill Cornell Medicine and Yale Cancer Center.