*UPDATE: Watch this film made by Fondation ARC and shown at the award ceremony on 10th April at the Salon de l’hôtel des Arts et Métiers in Paris, on Steve and his research (also featuring lab members Kate, Francisco, Harvey and Rebecca). *
The Fondation ARC Léopold Griffuel Award
...is a prestigious European cancer research prize that has been awarded annually since 1970.
Fondation ARC is the largest French foundation dedicated entirely to cancer research, and is funded by public donations. Their mission is to support research in the fight to eradicate cancers, with an ambitious goal "to cure 2 cancers out of 3 by 2025".
The award winners are scientists and physicians who have made an important contribution to better understand, diagnose, cure and prevent cancers. The award was created according to the will of the late Mrs Griffuel by bequest, in honour and memory of her late husband, Mr. Léopold Griffuel.
Fondation ARC has announced that two outstanding scientists will receive awards, including prizes of Euro 150,000, in 2019:
In Basic Research, Prof. Laurence Zitvogel (UMR Inserm) for her research in immunology, which improved the understanding of the biological mechanisms of the anticancer immune response and immunotherapies. Her discoveries have changed the way the immune system is understood in relation to cancer treatment.
In Translational and Clinical Research, Prof. Steve Jackson (Wellcome/ Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute) for his work on DNA damage repair and his role in the development of medicines such as PARP1 and 2 inhibitors, currently used for cancer treatment.
Prof Jackson said: "It is a great privilege and honour to receive this important award, which recognises my colleagues and I successfully translating our ground-breaking basic science towards a new cancer therapy that is already extending and enhancing the lives of many cancer sufferers worldwide.
"I am pleased that 80% of the award will be used to fund further research in my laboratory defining fundamental mechanisms of DNA repair and exploring how this knowledge might yield new opportunities for alleviating cancer."
