February 14, 2020—(BRONX, NY)—Susan Band Horwtiz, Ph.D., distinguished professor of molecular pharmacology and the Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has been awarded the National Foundation for Cancer Research’s (NFCR) 2020 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research. The honor recognizes her pioneering research establishing the mechanism of action of anti-tumor drugs, including Taxol, that are used to treat ovarian, breast, and lung cancers.

"I am deeply honored by this award from the National Foundation for Cancer Research and the Szent-Györgyi Prize selection committee," said Dr. Horwitz. "It is a real privilege to be among the winners of this prize, all of whom have greatly advanced cancer research and treatment. And this award is also a testament to all the students, fellows and visiting scientists who contributed to the research conducted in my lab over the years."

Members of the 2020 prize selection committee, which voted unanimously to recognize Dr. Horwitz, lauded her work. She is currently researching mechanisms of resistance to Taxol and methods that may help predict patients’ responses to the drug.

It is a real privilege to be among the winners of this prize, all of whom have greatly advanced cancer research and treatment. And this award is also a testament to all the students, fellows and visiting scientists who contributed to the research conducted in my lab over the years.

Susan Band Horwtiz, Ph.D.

“Dr. Horwitz has made several seminal contributions, including the major finding of the mechanism of action of a drug that has been deployed in the treatment of over a million cancer patients," said Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., committee chair, surgery branch chief of the U.S. National Cancer Institute and winner of the 2019 Szent-Györgyi Prize. "She has profoundly impacted and improved the treatment of cancer patients."

The NFCR established the Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research was established in 2006. The award is named in honor of its co-founder, Albert Szent-Györgyi, M.D., Ph.D., who received the1937 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine.

Adapted from a news release issued by NFCR.