Five world-renowned scientists have been recognized by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation (GMCRF) for their seminal contributions to cancer research, at an awards ceremony June 7 at the U.S. Department of State. ABC journalist Sam Donaldson will participate in the awards ceremony, along with Secretary for Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, General Motors Chairman of the Board John F. Smith, Jr., and General Motors Vice Chairman Harry J. Pearce.

The awards ceremony concludes GMCRF's two-day Annual Scientific Conference held at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference, which focused on "Genomics and Cancer," included lectures by this year's prize winners describing their research.

The awards, valued at $250,000 each, are among the most prestigious in medicine. To date, GMCRF has awarded over $10 million to 87 scientists, in an effort to focus worldwide scientific and public attention on cancer research. Seven winners have subsequently won Nobel prizes.

The year's award recipients are

• Monroe E. Wall, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Research Triangle Institute;
  
• Mansukh C. Wani, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Research Triangle Institute;
  
• Bert Vogelstein, M.D., Professor of Oncology and Pathology, and Investigator, Howard Hughes
  Medical Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;
  
• Avram Hershko, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology
  
• Alexander J. Varshavsky, Ph.D., Professor of Cell Biology, California Institute of Technology
  

Taxol(r), which is widely considered one of the most important anti-cancer compounds of the past three decades, is currently used to treat patients with either ovarian, breast or lung cancer, and has also been effective against Kaposi's sarcoma, a cancer associated with AIDS.

Two water-soluble analogs of Camptothecin(tm) have been approved for clinical use in the U.S. since 1996. Work is underway at Research Triangle Institute and elsewhere to develop new, powerful applications for this compound.

"Being right on the spot when we made these discoveries has been a joy," said Dr. Wall, who at age 83 is still actively at work in his North Carolina laboratory.

Dr. Wani, 75, concurred. "Nothing could be more gratifying than this," he said. "I have always been interested in the study of chemistry to develop medicines, and I am very proud of our accomplishments."

Still, he pointed out that the work of a cancer researcher doesn't end with one groundbreaking discovery. "There is always a need to find something better and less toxic," he said.

Dr. Wall received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Rutgers University. He is the recipient of two honorary doctorates, as well as recognition and awards from the American Society of Pharmacognosy, the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Wani, a native of India, received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Bombay and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Indiana University. Among his numerous honors are the Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award of the American Association for Cancer Research, the City of Medicine Award and the NCI Award of Recognition.

Charles S. Mott Prize
Dr. Vogelstein has been honored with the Charles S. Mott Prize for his role in defining the molecular pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. The Mott Prize is given for the most outstanding recent contribution related to the causes or ultimate prevention of cancer.

Dr. Vogelstein's research has led to the discovery of a series of genetic mutations that cause the initiation and progression of colon cancer. Colorectal cancers are the third most common cancers in men and women. They are expected to account for 11 percent of all cancer deaths in 2000.

A leading international expert and pioneer in the field of molecular genetics, Dr. Vogelstein received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he also completed his internship and residency. He is a member of many key research organizations and the recipient of numerous awards. He also serves on the editorial boards of several leading scientific journals, including Science and the New England Journal of Medicine.

"I look at this award as a tribute to all the work our trainees have done over the course of 20 years in determining the genetic basis of cancer," Dr. Vogelstein said.

Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize
Dr. Hershko and Dr. Varshavsky have been awarded the Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. Prize for the discovery of the ubiquitin system for protein degradation and the crucial functions of this system in cellular regulation. The Sloan Prize honors the most outstanding recent basic science contribution to cancer research.

The ubiquitin field was created in the 1980s, primarily through the complementary and independent contributions of the laboratories of Dr. Varshavsky and Dr. Hershko. Over the last decade, the ubiquitin system has become central to the understanding of the emergence and progression of cancer.

Dr. Hershko discovered the role of ubiquitin in the process of protein degradation in the cell, while Dr. Varshavsky discovered the first physiological roles of this process, and the relationship between the ubiquitin system and malignancy.

"I am honored to receive this award, and grateful for the recognition it bestows on the entire community of ubiquitin researchers," Dr. Varshavsky said. "Back in 1990, ubiquitin studies were still a rather esoteric field. A decade later, thousands of laboratories all over the world are studying the ubiquitin system or problems connected to it. It is gratifying to know that Avram Hershko's and my work in the 1980s has helped to launch a field of this magnitude."

Dr. Varshavsky received a B.S. in chemistry from Moscow State University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Moscow's Institute of Molecular Biology. Upon immigrating to the United States in 1977, Dr. Varshavsky joined the Department of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he began his groundbreaking studies into the functions of the ubiquitin system. Since 1992, he has been at the California Institute of Technology, where he is the Howard and Gwen Laurie Smits Professor of Cell Biology.

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Varshavsky has most recently been honored with the Gairdner Foundation International Award, which he shared with Dr. Hershko.

Dr. Hershko received his M.D. from the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem. Following army service as a physician, he obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Hebrew University, and did postdoctoral research at the University of California Medical Center, San Francisco. He is a winner of the Weizmann Prize, the Israel Prize, the Gairdner Foundation International Award and the Wachter Award.

Dr. Samuel A. Wells, Jr., President of the GM Cancer Research Foundation, and Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Chairman of the Awards Assembly, praised the award winners and cited their major contributions in cancer research. They noted that the laureates were chosen through a rigorous review process conducted by distinguished international scientists who served on the Foundation's Selection Committees and Awards Assembly.

Cancer research has been a key philanthropic priority for General Motors for nearly 25 years. GM is committed to helping eradicate cancer and supporting cancer research until the battle iswon. As part of this commitment, the automaker established the GM Cancer Research Foundation (GMCRF) in 1978 to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of basic scientists and clinical scientists in cancer research.

"We believe strongly in giving back to the community," said GM Chairman John F. Smith, Jr. "Through these awards, we hope to bring some of the world's most gifted scientists just that much closer to preventing, treating and curing cancer in the future."

Past laureates include E. Donnall Thomas, M.D., who developed the technique of bone marrow transplantation; J. Christopher Wagner, M.D., who discovered the link between asbestos exposure and lung cancer; and Samuel Shapiro, B.S. and Philip Strax, M.D., who demonstrated the importance of mammograms in improving survival rates in women with breast cancer.

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