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For Immediate Release
Contact: Tonya Ewers, 303.724.1524, pager 303.266.0941, Tonya.Ewers@uchsc.edu
Dedication to Minority Recruitment and Cancer Research Earns Top Honor for University of Colorado Denver Professor and Researcher
Minorities in Cancer Research Award presented by the American Association for Cancer Research
AURORA, Colo. (March 11, 2008) - Today, the American Association for Cancer Research announced Arthur Gutierrez-Hartmann, MD, of the University of Colorado Denver, is the 2008 recipient of the Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. First given in 2006, the annual Lectureship is presented to an individual investigator and is intended to give recognition to an outstanding scientist who has made commendable contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.
The Lectureship is named in honor of Jane Cooke Wright, MD, a pioneer in clinical cancer chemotherapy and an exceptional scientist who is African-American and who has made important contributions to cancer research. She was among the first researchers to test chemotherapeutic drugs in humans, which produced effective dosing levels and helped saved lives. Her leadership and mentorship greatly impacted cancer research over her 40-year career.
Peers and colleagues nominate award candidates and a selection committee comprised of leaders in all areas of cancer research reviews the nominations and chooses the honoree. Andrew Thorburn, PhD, Grohne Chair of Basic Cancer Research and professor and vice chair of Pharmacology at the UC Denver School of Medicine, nominated Gutierrez-Hartmann for the Lectureship "because he's an important role model - his career exemplifies the success that an underrepresented minority can have in cancer research, not to mention his work as an active promoter of the recruitment and retention of minorities in this field."
In the nomination letter to the AACR, Thorburn, who is also the associate director for Basic Science at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, cited Gutierrez-Hartmann's early research that identified RNA polymerase II and polymerase III promoters found in several members of the growth hormone gene family - work that produced ground-breaking research by establishing one of the first pituitary cell-specific in vitro transcription systems. More recently, Dr. Gutierrez-Hartmann's laboratory has focused on the role of ETS transcription factors in epithelial cell development and tumorigenesis, with a focus on pituitary, mammary and gastrointestinal (GI) epithelial cell systems. His studies have defined a new ETS factor transformation mechanism, and also address the distinct roles of ETS factors in breast and GI tumorigenesis.
Further, Thorburn commended Gutierrez-Hartmann for his vision and active participation in the recruitment of underrepresented minorities to the Medical Science Training Program, the MD/PhD combined program of the School of Medicine and Graduate School at UC Denver. Under his direction, the Program went from 2.4 percent enrollment of underrepresented minorities to 17 percent, and more than half of total enrollment is now female, far exceeding the national averages for these types of programs (national averages are approximately 9 percent minorities and 29 percent female).
"This is a spectacular achievement when one considers that he took a program that in 10 years had been unable to recruit more than one minority student and then turned that program into a nationally recognized leader in this area," said Thorburn.
"I am delighted to accept this MICR-Wright Lectureship Award," said Gutierrez-Hartmann, professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics at the UC Denver School of Medicine, and director of the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program for the School of Medicine and Graduate School. "It validates years of hard work in cancer research and my personal efforts in increasing minority student recruitment at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine."
Dr. Gutierrez-Hartmann will present the 3rd Annual AACR-Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship outlining his current work and research during the 2008 AACR Annual Meeting in San Diego, April 12-16, 2008.
Brief Bio
Dr. Arthur Gutierrez-Hartmann was born in Mexico City and grew up in San Antonio, Texas, with Spanish as his first language. He is a professor in the Departments of Medicine and of Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, previous program director of the Molecular and Structural Biology Program in the University of Colorado Cancer Center, and director of the NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus.
Gutierrez-Hartmann was recruited to the Health Sciences Center of the University of Colorado in 1985, where he was a founding member of the combined MD/PhD Degree Program (1985; now MSTP); the Molecular Biology Graduate Program (1986), the University of Colorado Cancer Center (1987); and the Reproductive Biology Graduate Program (2004).
As a clinician he attends patients with endocrine disorders, focusing on pituitary tumors and thyroid cancer. Throughout his career, Gutierrez-Hartmann has been highly committed to the recruitment and training of underrepresented students in the graduate and medical schools at UC Denver, increasing the diversity rate of the UC Denver Medical Science Training Program
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About the UC Denver School of Medicine
The School of Medicine faculty work to advance science and improve care as the physicians, educators and scientists at University of Colorado Hospital, The Children's Hospital, Denver Health, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Degrees offered by the UC Denver School of Medicine include doctor of medicine, doctor of physical therapy, and masters of physician assistant studies. The School is part of the University of Colorado Denver, one of three universities in the University of Colorado system. For additional news and information, please visit the UC Denver Newsroom online.
About the University of Colorado Cancer Center
The University of Colorado Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in the Rocky Mountain Region. Headquartered primarily at the University of Colorado Denver, its four-part mission is excellence in cancer research, treatment, prevention and education. For more information, visit the UCCC website or the UC Denver Newsroom online.
About the American Association for Cancer Research
AACR, the world's oldest and largest professional organization, represents cancer scientists from the United States and nearly 70 other countries, honoring outstanding accomplishments in basic research, clinical care, therapeutics and prevention.