Brian Druker, M.D. - 2015 Recipient
OHSU Knight Cancer Institute
Brian Druker, M.D., was named the 2015 recipient of the Duane Roth Achievement Award. Dr. Druker’s research focuses on activated tyrosine kinases with an emphasis on signal transduction, cellular transformation and the application of this knowledge to cancer therapies.
Dr. Druker’s tenacity was instrumental in developing imatinib, a specific inhibitor of the ABL protein, tyrosine kinase, that has proven to be an effective therapeutic agent in chronic myeloid leukemia.
Early in his career, tyrosine kinases were not considered proper therapeutic targets and he received tremendous backlash for pursuing these targets for cancer drug development. Dr. Druker’s tenacity was instrumental in developing imatinib, a specific inhibitor of the ABL protein, tyrosine kinase, that has proven to be an effective therapeutic agent in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). After completing a series of preclinical studies, Dr. Druker spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib for CML. Imatinib is currently FDA approved for CML and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Dr. Druker’s role in the development of imatinib and its application in the clinic has impacted countless cancer patients.
Dr. Druker is director of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute, JELD-WEN chair of leukemia research at OHSU and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.