March 2, 2010
LA JOLLA, CA—The Salk Institute for Biological Studies today announced the appointment of Professor Tony Hunter, Ph.D., as the inaugural holder of the Frederick W. and Joanna J. Mitchell Chair, created in memory of their daughter Marian Mitchell through a $2 million gift by the estate of Frederick W. Mitchell.
The endowed chair has been established under the Joan Klein Jacobs and Irwin Mark Jacobs Senior Scientist Endowed Chair Challenge, which augments the Mitchell estate’s gift with an additional $1 million.
Dr. Hunter is an American Cancer Society professor and a senior scientist in Salk’s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory. As the director of the Institute’s NCI-designated Cancer Center, Hunter studies how cells regulate their growth and division, and how mutations in genes that regulate growth lead to cancer.
Hunter’s lab has made significant research contributions in the area of signal transduction — how signals that stimulate or rein in cell growth are routed. Signal transduction is involved in almost every aspect of normal cell development, and minor defects cause a cell to start growing uncontrollably and turn cancerous. Such mutations are the underlying cause of most pediatric cancers. His lab continues to study signal transduction and its roles in normal and abnormal cell development.
“We are fortunate to have a scientist of Tony’s caliber on the Institute’s faculty,” said Salk President William R. Brody. “He is a man of many talents and is most deserving of this latest honor.”
Hunter is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His extraordinary work has garnered international acclaim. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He holds the 2006 Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Award for Cancer Research; the 2005 Wolf Prize in Medicine, Israel’s top recognition for achievements in the interest of humanity; the 2004 Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, a leading national award for scientific achievement; and Japan’s 2001 Keio Medical Science Prize.
“We are deeply grateful to the Mitchell estate for this most generous gift that enables us to honor and recognize one of our most distinguished senior scientists,” said Salk Executive Vice President Marsha A. Chandler. “The contribution, along with the Jacobs’ matching gift, allows us to provide Dr. Hunter and subsequent holders of this chair with financial support that will encourage continued breakthroughs in childhood disease research at the Salk Institute.”
Launched in 2008 with a $10 million matching fund, the Jacobs Chair Challenge encourages and enables donors to create prestigious, permanent chairs in support of senior faculty members at Salk.
The $2 million endowed chair is part of a more than $3.2 million bequest to the Salk Institute from the Frederick W. Mitchell estate.
About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Das Salk Institute for Biological Studies ist eine der weltweit führenden Institutionen für Grundlagenforschung, an der international renommierte Fakultätsmitglieder grundlegende Fragen der Biowissenschaften in einem einzigartigen, kollaborativen und kreativen Umfeld untersuchen. Mit dem Fokus auf Entdeckungen und die Ausbildung zukünftiger Forschergenerationen leisten Salk-Wissenschaftler bahnbrechende Beiträge zu unserem Verständnis von Krebs, Alterung, Alzheimer, Diabetes und Infektionskrankheiten durch die Untersuchung von Neurowissenschaften, Genetik, Zell- und Pflanzenbiologie sowie verwandten Disziplinen.
Die Leistungen der Fakultät wurden mit zahlreichen Auszeichnungen gewürdigt, darunter Nobelpreise und Mitgliedschaften in der National Academy of Sciences. Das 1960 vom Polio-Impfstoff-Pionier Dr. Jonas Salk gegründete Institut ist eine unabhängige gemeinnützige Organisation und ein architektonisches Wahrzeichen.
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