Jennifer Pietenpol, Ph.D., B.F. Byrd Jr. Professor of Oncology and director of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), was honored with the Medical Research Advancement Award during the 8th Annual T.J. Martell FoundationNashville Honors Gala held recently at the Omni Nashville Hotel.
The Medical Research Advancement Award is in recognition of Pietenpol’s career as a cancer researcher. She focuses on the p53 family of proteins and breast cancer, especially triple-negative breast cancer, which is one of the most difficult to treat forms of the disease.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized by the T.J. Martell Foundation, which has been a long-standing partner in our endeavors to help cancer patients by providing essential support for our research efforts,” Pietenpol said. “The award is a testament to the innovative work of my laboratory team, my mentors and colleagues at Vanderbilt, as well as the donors and community supporters who helped us create and expand the Cancer Center and its services.”
Pietenpol joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1994 and was named director of VICC in 2007. In addition to her leadership at VICC, she has been named to the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Forum and is a previous presidential appointee on the National Cancer Advisory Board.
Pietenpol has received numerous awards including the Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award at Vanderbilt University and the Carleton College Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award. She was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, and is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for outstanding contributions to the field of cancer research, particularly for advances in the understanding of signaling networks in breast and other cancers. She has authored or co-authored over 125 articles published in peer-reviewed scientific literature.
The T.J. Martell Foundation was launched by Tony Martell in 1975 in honor of his young son T.J., who was a leukemia patient. The nonprofit organization is the music industry’s largest foundation and has helped fund research and supportive therapies for patients with cancer, leukemia and AIDS.