The Rowley Prize 2010 awarded to Dr. Moshe Talpaz

The winner of the Rowley Prize for 2010 is MD Moshe Talpaz, awarded at the start of the ESH-iCMLf meeting in September 2010 in Washington DC. Dr Janet Rowley has kindly given the iCMLf permission to name this award in her honour.

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.

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. The first prize 2009 was awarded to Dr. Brian Druker.