2020 Honorees

Basic Science
Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D.
University of California Berkeley

Dr. Doudna is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and a Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Her co-discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology, with collaborator, French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier, has changed human and agricultural genomics research forever. This genome-editing technology enables scientists to change or remove genes quickly, with a precision only dreamed of just a few years ago. Labs worldwide have re-directed the course of their research programs to incorporate this new tool, creating a CRISPR revolution with huge implications across biology and medicine. In addition to her scientific achievements and eminence, Doudna is also a leader in public discussion of the ethical and other implications of genome editing for human biology and societies, and advocates for thoughtful approaches to the development of policies around the use of CRISPR-Cas9. She has received many prizes for her discoveries, including the Japan Prize (2016), the Kavli Prize (2018), and the LUI Che Woo Welfare Betterment Prize (2019). In 2015, Doudna was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.


Clinical Development
Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Dr. Horwitz is an American biochemist and a Distinguished Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she holds the Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research. Dr. Horwitz is a pioneer in dissecting the mechanisms of action of chemotherapeutic drugs including camptothecin, the epipodophyllotoxins, bleomycin, and Taxol. Dr. Horwitz is most recognized for her work on Taxol, which paved the way for using Taxol and other microtubule stabilizing agents as chemotherapeutics. Taxol is widely used to treat ovarian, breast, and lung cancer. Dr. Horwitz received a degree in biology from Bryn Mawr College and obtained her Ph.D. in biochemistry at Brandeis University, under the direction of Professor Nathan O. Kaplan. She was a postdoctoral fellow in The Department of Pharmacology at Tufts University Medical School and at Emory University Medical School. In 1967, she moved to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where she has concentrated on the development of natural products, such as Taxol, for the treatment of cancer. She has received many awards including: the C. Chester Stock Award from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize from Harvard Medical School, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research, the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor, the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research, and the Canada Gairdner International Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Science, and of Medicine, and The American Philosophical Society.

Susan Horwitz, Ph D – 2020 Hope Funds Award for Excellence: Clinical Development


Medicine
Jedd Wolchok, M.S., M.D., Ph.D.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Dr. Wolchok is Chief of the Immuno-Oncology Service and holds The Lloyd J. Old Chair in Clinical Investigation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr. Wolchok is a clinician-scientist exploring innovative immunotherapeutic strategies in laboratory models, and a principal investigator in numerous pivotal clinical trials. Dr. Wolchok has helped establish MSK as a leader in the discovery and treatment of cancers with novel immunotherapies. Dr. Wolchok was instrumental in the clinical development leading to the approval of ipilimumab for advanced melanoma. He supervises an NIH R01-funded basic science laboratory which is focused on investigating novel immunotherapeutic agents in pre-clinical laboratory models. The focus of his translational research laboratory is to investigate innovative means to modulate the immune response to cancer as well as to better understand the mechanistic basis for sensitivity and resistance to currently available immunotherapies. Dr. Wolchok received his B.A. degree from Princeton University, and his M.S., Ph.D. and M.D. degrees from New York University. Dr. Wolchok has received numerous honors for his work including: the Alfred Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Research, the American Association for Cancer Research Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award, the Virginia and Daniel K. Ludwig Chair for Clinical Investigation, the Melanoma International Foundation’s Doctor of the Year Award, the Melanoma Research Foundation – Humanitarian Award, and the Damon Runyon-Lilly Clinical Investigator Award.

Jedd Wolchok, MS, MD, PhD – 2020 Hope Funds Award for Excellence: Medicine


Philanthropy
Patricia F. Bilden, M.D.

Dr. Bilden is a retired dermatologist and a life Trustee of the Hope Funds for Cancer Research. She received a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.D. from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Dr. Bilden completed an internship in Internal Medicine at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston, a Research Fellowship in Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a Dermatology residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. She retired from medicine upon moving to Hong Kong, where she and her husband resided for 21 years. Dr. Bilden is an active philanthropist and manages the Bilden family’s philanthropic initiatives focused on cancer research, education, U.S. national security and military veterans. In addition to her 12 years of service on the Board of Trustees of the Hope Funds, Dr. Bilden was a long-serving member of the Board of Regents at Georgetown University in addition to numerous non-profit and educational governing boards. She and her husband Philip are residents of Palm Beach FL, and the parents of three adult children, LT Philip Bilden, USN, ENS Andrew Bilden, USN, and Claire Bilden.

Dr. Patricia Bilden, MD – 2020 Hope Funds Award for Philanthropy