Northwestern Prof. V. Craig Jordan has been named the recipient of the 24th annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research.
“This is terrific for Northwestern,” Jordan said. “We’ve been able to establish an extremely recognizable program.”
About 30 years ago, Jordan, a pharmacologist, began developing synthetic compounds to treat cancer. Back then, the disease was considered incurable, he said, adding that he has “championed these causes that might have been seen as unfashionable.”
Jordan said he was chosen as the recipient of the $50,000 cash prize and silver medallion because of his recognition of the potential of two multi-functional drugs – tamoxifen and raloxifene.
Jordan’s study tested the cancer-treating ability of tamoxifen, a breast-cancer treatment that strengthens bones, and raloxifene, an osteoporosis treatment that helps prevent cancer. Female cancer patients who took the drugs in the experiment improved significantly.
“It’s like taking Tylenol and having it cure tuberculosis,” Jordan said with a laugh.
Jordan is the Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research and the director of the Lynn Sage Breast Cancer Research Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of NU. He is the principal investigator in a $13 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer (SPORE) grant.
Jordan will receive the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award April 10 at a dinner in his honor in New York. He has received numerous other awards for his research, including the Bruce F. Cain Award from the American Association of Cancer Research and the Sir John Gaddum Award from the British Pharmacological Society. The Cameron Prize from the University of Edinburgh identified Jordan as one of the leading medical scientists of the 20th century.
But he said the real achievements of his career include “being able to spot winners from the lab into the clinic, and the fact that these drugs are highly successful” in improving the lives of female cancer patients.
