Celebrating an illustrious career in breast cancer research, SERMS and mentorship

Abstract

V Craig Jordan speaks to Roshaine Wijayatunga, Managing Commissioning Editor: V Craig Jordan, OBE, PhD, DSc, MDhc, FMedSci, FAACR is Dallas/Ft Worth Living Legend Chair of Cancer Research, Professor of Breast Medical Oncology, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, and Chief, Section of Basic Science Research and Pharmacology. He trained as a pharmacologist at Leeds University Medical School and subsequently held Professorial appointments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Northwestern University, Chicago (Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research) and the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia (the Alfred G Knudson Chair of Cancer Research). He was Professor of Oncology and Pharmacology at Georgetown University Medical Center and the Scientific Director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA. He developed the scientific principles for the effective use of tamoxifen, as an adjuvant therapy for breast cancer and the use of tamoxifen, as the first chemopreventive for breast cancer. His discovery and translational research of the novel group of medicines, known as Selected Estrogen Receptor Modulators, resulted in the development of raloxifene, for the prevention of osteoporosis and breast cancer. His contributions to medicine have been recognized with more than four dozen International Awards, including the Inaugural Brinker International Award (Susan G Komen for the Cure), David A Karnofsky Award (ASCO), the American Cancer Society (ACS) Medal of Honor, ACS Chemoprevention Prize (ASCO), the Charles F Kettering Prize and the St Gallen International Breast Cancer Prize. He is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. In 2002, he was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for services to International Breast Cancer Research.