American Society of Clinical Oncology honors Ching-Hon Pui, M.D.,
for work advancing childhood cancer research and treatment
Ching-Hon Pui, M.D., a renowned leader in the research and treatment of childhood leukemia, is the recipient of the 2012 Pediatric Oncology Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The honor recognizes Pui’s many contributions to better understanding the blood cancer’s biology and treatment as well as his role in improving leukemia survival rates.
Pui will receive the award in June at the 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. He will also present a talk on the possibility of achieving total cure of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with personalized therapy.
“This recognition is a fitting tribute to Dr. Pui’s life work and his tireless fight against pediatric leukemia,” said Dr. William E. Evans, St. Jude director and CEO. “He is an encyclopedia of knowledge that physicians and scientists around the world call upon every day, and he works literally around the clock to expand our knowledge of childhood leukemias and how to better treat them in the future.”
Pui has devoted 30 years to the fight against childhood cancer and is credited for innovations that have driven cure rates for pediatric leukemia to unprecedented heights. Implementing pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetics to individualize chemotherapy and to optimize the use of existing drugs, Pui and colleagues have achieved cure rates of 90 percent at St. Jude for pediatric ALL, the most common childhood cancer.
The personalized therapy approach has allowed clinicians to discontinue the use of cranial irradiation in treatment of this disease, thus sparing children from many devastating long-term side effects. This approach also resulted in a remarkably high cure rate for older adolescents with ALL, who historically fared far worse than their younger counterparts with the disease.
Pui and colleagues also made inroads in understanding the pathogenesis of leukemia and in identifying mechanisms of drug resistance and molecular targets for treatment using genome-wide analyses.
Pui is chair of the Department of Oncology at St. Jude; co-leader of the hospital’s Hematological Malignancies Program; medical director of the St. Jude International Outreach China Program; and holder of the Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair of Leukemia Research. He is also an American Cancer Society Professor. In addition to his work at St. Jude, Pui helped found the International Childhood ALL Working Group to facilitate international research collaboration and has helped developing countries access modern leukemia treatments.
Pui joined St. Jude in 1977. He has authored approximately 800 original articles and chapters, edited nine books and monographs, and serves as section editor or editorial board member for several esteemed journals. He is also one of the most highly cited authors in clinical medicine research.
Pui’s many awards and honors include elected memberships in the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Clinical Investigation; election as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Cancer Society F.M. Kirby Clinical Research Professorship; the 2009 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Team Science Award; the 2010 Castle Connolly National Physician of the Year Award; the 2011 AACR Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Research and the 2011 Henry M. Stratton Medal from the American Society of Hematology.
ASCO is a non-profit, professional oncology society committed to conquering cancer through research, education, prevention and delivery of high-quality patient care. More than 30,000 oncology practitioners belong to ASCO, representing all oncology disciplines and subspecialties. Members include physicians and health-care professionals in all levels of the practice of oncology.
本报讯 美国临床肿瘤学会（ASCO）将2012年儿科肿瘤医学奖颁发给来自圣强德（St. Jude）儿童医院的华裔医生裴正康（Ching-Hon Pui），以表彰他对研究和治疗白血病、提升白血病治愈率方面所做出的突出贡献。裴正康将在今年6月在芝加哥举办的2012年美国临床肿瘤学会年会上接受该奖项，并发表一份关于运用个体化疗法治愈儿童急性淋巴性白血病的演讲。他获奖的理由正是通过创新使儿童白血病的治愈率达到前所未有的高度。ASCO是一个非盈利的组织，目前的会员超过30,000人，这一奖项是该学会的最高荣誉奖项，表彰那些在肿瘤预防和治疗方面有着突出贡献的科学家。过去几年中，数位圣强德医院的研究人员获得过此奖项。
裴正康医师出生香港，1976年在台湾大学医学院毕业，获得医学博士，同年来到美国发展。裴正康于1977年到孟菲斯圣强德儿童研究医院工作，目前担任该院肿瘤学系主任，教授研究员。同时，他还协同领导该院恶性白血病项目的研究，为圣强德儿童医院国际拓展（中国）项目部主任，是白血病研究领域Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair的主持人。（co-leader of the hospital’s Hematological Malignancies Program; medical director of the St. Jude International Outreach China Program; and holder of the Fahad Nassar Al-Rashid Chair of Leukemia Research.）他和他的同事将对药效学和药理遗传学的研究应用在个体化化疗领域，优化现有药物的使用，使得急性淋巴性白血病这一最常见的儿童癌症在St. Jude儿童医院的治愈率达到90%
蜚声国际的儿童血癌权威裴正康教授，在儿童急性淋巴母细胞癌方面的研究有很大的贡献，二十几年来所救治的白血病童不计其数。2007年，裴正康医师被大孟菲斯华人联合会授予华人成就奖。裴医师在圣强德的三十多年中，精益求精，在儿童肿瘤方面做出了巨大贡献。圣强德儿童医院首席执行官，也是这一奖项2008年得主Evans医师说：“裴带着永不疲倦的精神和儿童白血病征战。”裴正康医生在孟菲斯，在田纳西州为华人社区树立起一面旗帜！（华悦报道）
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