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Caryn Lerman, PhD,
Deputy Director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the
University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the 22nd
Annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health. |
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The award will be presented to Lerman for
her work on pharmacogenetic approaches to nicotine dependence
treatment at the annual convention of the American College of
Chest Physicians on October 21st, 2007, in Chicago. |
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Lerman is the Mary W. Calkins Professor in
the Department of Psychiatry and the Annenberg School for Communication. She
is also Director of the NIH-funded Transdisciplinary Tobacco
Use Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania. |
(PHILADELPHIA) — Caryn Lerman, PhD,
Deputy Director of the Abramson
Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the 22nd
Annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health.
The award will be presented to Lerman, for her
work on pharmacogenetic approaches
to nicotine dependence
treatment, at the annual
convention of the American
College of Chest Physicians on October 21, 2007,
in Chicago.
Lerman is the Mary W. Calkins Professor in
the Department of Psychiatry and the Annenberg
School for Communication. She
is also Director of the NIH-funded Transdisciplinary
Tobacco Use Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania which translates
research in neuroscience, pharmacology, and genetics to develop
pharmacological therapies for nicotine dependence. In human behavioral
pharmacology studies, Lerman’s laboratory studies the effects
of different medications and novel compounds on nicotine’s
reinforcing effects and nicotine abstinence symptoms. Recently,
she and her colleagues discovered that variation in genes in
the brain’s dopamine reward pathway and in the endogenous opioid system influence how smokers respond to medications for
nicotine dependence. Such research will help create targeted
treatments for people to successfully quit
smoking with a reduced
chance of relapse.
Penn’s Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research
Center links with Penn’s Leonard
Davis Institute for Health Economics, the Annenberg School for Communication, and the Abramson
Cancer Center. Through these collaborations, Lerman and her colleagues
hope to increase the likelihood that emerging scientific findings
are translated into practice to reduce morbidity and mortality
from tobacco use.
Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) members currently
hold over $145 million in grant funding. The ACC ranks fifth
in funding from the National
Cancer Institute and fourth in American
Cancer Society funding. Areas of research excellence
at the ACC include: basic and translational research, breast
cancer, melanoma, hematologic
malignancies/bone marrow transplantation,
innovative clinical trials (200 active ongoing trials), developmental
therapeutics, and cancer prevention and survivorship.
# # #
The Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) of the University
of Pennsylvania is a national leader in cancer research,
patient care, and education. The pre-eminent position of the
Cancer Center is reflected in its continuous designation as
a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute
for 30 years, one of 39 such Centers in the United States.
The ACC is dedicated to innovative and compassionate cancer
care. The clinical program, comprised of a dedicated staff
of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers,
physical therapists, nutritionists and patient care coordinators,
currently sees over 50,000 outpatient visits, 3400 inpatient
admissions, and provides over 24,000 chemotherapy treatments,
and more than 65,000 radiation treatments. Not only is the
ACC dedicated to providing state-of-the-art cancer care, the
latest forms of cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment
are available to our patients through clinical themes that
developed in the relentless pursuit to eliminate the pain and
suffering from cancer. In addition, the ACC is home to the
300 research scientists who work relentlessly to determine
the pathogenesis of cancer. Together, the faculty is committed
to improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
PENN Medicine is a $3.5 billion enterprise
dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical
research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists
of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded
in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University
of Pennsylvania Health System.
Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt
of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News
& World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented
medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students,
the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior
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The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals,
all of which have received numerous national patient-care honors [Hospital
of the University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's
first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice
plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite
facilities; and home care and hospice.
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.