August 6, 2009
Israel Cancer Research Fund honors Nancy Maizels
Nancy Maizels, UW professor of immunology, has received the Elliott Osserman Award for Distinguished Service in Support of Cancer Research from the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) in recognition of her three years of service on the fund’s Scientific Review Panel.
The Israel Cancer Research Fund’s mission is to harness Israel’s scientific talent to find a cure for cancer. It is the largest single source of private funds for cancer research in Israel and has invested $37 million in 1,689 research grants. Maizels received the award from Peter Stambrook, head of the Scientific Review Panel and chairman of the Department of Cell and Cancer Biology at the University of Cincinnati. The award was presented at the fund’s annual peer review session in New York City last month.
Thirty-six physicians and cancer researchers from the United States and Canada volunteer on the panel. The panel reviews grant applications and guides the fund in selecting grant recipients from Israel whose research shows the most promise. Panel members serve for a three-year term.
More than 170 Israeli scientists from the country’s leading medical and science institutions applied to ICRF for grants the 2009-2010 academic year. These grants, which go directly to the scientists, range from $50,000 per year for seven years for ICRF professorships to $25,000 per year for two years for postdoctoral fellowships for young investigators. Grant recipients will be announced in September.
Elliott F. Osserman was the American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine and Associate Director, Institute of Cancer Research, at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. One of ICRF’s scientific founders and the first chairman of ICRF’s Scientific Advisory Board, he was internationally renowned and honored for his scientific research on the diseases multiple myeloma and amyloidosis. He died in 1989.
