PHILADELPHIA – Anil K. Rustgi, MD, former employee and chief of Gastroenterology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is once again the recipient of a prestigious Research Professor Award from the American Cancer Society (ACS).
ACS Research Professor and Clinical Research Professor Awards are given to outstanding scientists and clinician-scientists who have made seminal contributions to their fields, are thought leaders in their fields, and have made outstanding efforts in terms of service and mentoring.
The ACS Professorship is the most prestigious national award the organization gives. It comes with a grant of five years for Rustgi to continue to provide leadership in his research on the genetics and biology of gastrointestinal cancers, including those arising from the colon and pancreas. His group has provided innovative scientific contributions in the development of 3D culture systems, mouse models and bridging the preclinical arena to clinical domains. The Rustgi lab has long focused on how preneoplastic cells become neoplastic and the tumor microenvironment. With the ACS grant and other efforts, the lab is increasingly interested in GI cancer metastasis biology and avenues to target metastatic lesions in patients.
Rustgi is one of only 25 active ACS Research Professors in the country. He was first awarded an ACS professorship award in 2010. This is a one-time five year renewal.
“I am thrilled to be in such elite company,” said Rustgi of his selection. “An award of this magnitude will allow our programs to continue work toward better understanding and treating GI cancers, many of which are inflicted with impediments in early detection and effective therapies. In aggregate, GI cancers are the most common amongst solid malignancies in the United States and worldwide.”
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.
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