Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, Receives AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research

Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was honored with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)-Joseph H. Burchenal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research at the upcoming AACR Annual Meeting in Chicago.

“She is being recognized for her revered clinical and translational research that has transformed the treatment of oncogene-driven lung cancers,” officials said in an announcement. “Shaw’s groundbreaking work in defining ALK– and ROS1-positive lung cancers and leading the preclinical and clinical development of first and next-generation inhibitors has established new standards of care, dramatically improving patient outcomes.”

Dr. Shaw, who is currently chief of strategic partnerships at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a physician in the thoracic oncology program at Dana-Farber, was previously the global head of translational clinical oncology at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and led early drug development in oncology and hematology, according to her AACR biography.  In addition, she previously served as the director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Paula O’Keeffe endowed chair of thoracic oncology, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“At MGH, Dr. Shaw’s research focused on a variety of different molecularly defined subsets of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and specifically elucidating mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies,” according to Dr. Shaw’s AACR biography. “Based on her research, she helped develop numerous targeted therapies for patients with oncogene-driven NSCLC, four of which are now FDA-approved therapies. Her research efforts also focused on developing novel combinatorial strategies aimed at overcoming and preventing drug resistance.”

Dr. Shaw’s award lecture was held at 5 p.m. CT on Monday, April 28.

Source:

AACR Announces 2025 Scientific Achievement Award Recipients. News release. American Association for Cancer Research. April 14, 2025. Accessed April 22, 2025. https://www.aacr.org/about-the-aacr/newsroom/news-releases/aacr-announces-2025-scientific-achievement-award-recipients/

In the photo at top, Dr. Shaw is shown. (Photo courtesy of AACR)