The Rowley Prize

Dr Janet Rowley has kindly given the iCMLf permission to name this new award in her honour. It is awarded annually by the iCMLf to a person who has made a major contribution to our understanding of the biology of CML or to the management of patients with CML. The Rowley Prize was given for the first time in 2009 to Dr. Brian Druker, followed by Dr. Moshe Talpaz (2010) and Prof. John Goldman (2011).

The Rowley Prize 2011 awarded to Prof. John Goldman

Professor John M. Goldman has a long standing interest in the biology and therapy of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).  He was until 2004 Chairman of the Department of Haematology at Imperial College London, Director of the Leukaemia Research Fund Centre for Adult Leukaemia and Clinical Director of the Haematology Department at the Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust. Thereafter he took up a 2-year appointment as Fogarty Scholar at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda USA.  He is now active as Emeritus Professor of Haematology at Imperial College London and Medical Director of the Anthony Nolan Trust.  He is editor of Bone Marrow Transplantation, a former editor of The Haematology Journal, and an associate editor of the European Journal of Haematology. He is also an editorial board member of numerous other journals and, during the course of his career, has published over 800 papers in peer-reviewed journals. As well as being the founding president of the British Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, he is a former president of the International Society for Experimental Hematology, the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and the European Hematology Association.

Professor Goldman was the first to autograft patients with CML using peripheral blood stem cells and started allogeneic stem cell transplant for CML in 1980. He pioneered the use of unrelated donors for transplanting CML patients and developed PCR technology for monitoring residual disease. He confirmed the preclinical efficacy of the original tyrosine kinase inhibitor (STI571, now imatinib) in 1997 and first used it in the clinic in 1999. Thereafter he has been involved in development of second generation TKIs, notably dasatinib and nilotinib.

The Rowley Prize 2010 awarded to Dr. Moshe Talpaz

Dr. Moshe Talpaz is Associate Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He is one of the leading clinical investigators in hematologic malignancies world-wide. Dr. Talpaz' focus is on the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and brings special expertise in immunotherapy, cytokines and biologic response modifiers. Internationally known for his role in the development of targeted cancer therapeutics, Dr. Talpaz pioneered the study of interferon in CML, which was the first line therapy for CML until the introduction of STI571 (Imatinib, Gleevec). As a pivotal member of the team that developed Gleevec, Dr. Talpaz was instrumental in bringing the new CML treatment to the market. As a leader in the development of novel therapeutics, Dr. Talpaz has unique experience in the building of early Phase clinical trial programs.

Dr. Talpaz joined the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2006, from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he was professor of medicine and held the David Bruton Chair for Cancer Research. He has authored or co-authored nearly 400 articles in top national journals and textbooks, and is a member of the American Society of Hematology and the NCCN Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia Guidelines Panel.

The first winner of the Rowley Prize for 2009 was Dr Brian Druker

Dr. Brian Druker is Joint Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research at the Oregon Health and Science University. He is also an HHMI scholar. Dr Druker was responsible for bringing imatinib, the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to the clinic for patients with CML. Imatinib has transformed the lives of thousands of patients with CML. While there are many scientists and clinicians who made critical contributions to developing this drug and to clinically validating its effectiveness and safety, Dr Druker’s role was indisputably fundamental.  Janet Rowley was thrilled to hear that Dr Druker would be the first recipient “I admire Brian immensely and would be so honored to have him be the first recipient of a prize named after me.” Dr Druker presented the Rowley Prize oration at the start of the CML meeting in Bordeaux.

About the Rowley Prize

Dr Rowley MD is the Blum-Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Human 
Genetics at the University of Chicago.

In 1973 she made a seminal discovery in CML when she used newly developed chromosome banding techniques to show that the Philadelphia chromosome is formed by a translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22.

This discovery led to the eventual identification of the fusion gene BCR-ABL and ultimately to the development of targeted inhibitors of this leukemia-specific oncoprotein. This is one of many major contributions made by Dr Rowley and her team to our understanding of the molecular biology of leukemia and other cancers. She was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour awarded in the USA.

The Rowley Prize will be awarded each year by the iCMLf to an individual who had made an outstanding lifetime contribution to our understanding of the biology and/or to progress in treating CML.