Health
Carol Greider receives American Cancer Society Professor Award
The award includes a grant that will support Greider’s research that advances her Nobel-winning discovery of the DNA caps at the ends of chromosomes called telomeres
Carol Greider, professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology (Photo by Carolyn Lagatutta)
The American Cancer Society (ACS) is awarding University of California, Santa Cruz, Professor Carol Greider with an ACS Professorship. These awards are given to preeminent cancer researchers who lead the field and speak to scientists and the public about the importance of cancer research.
The ACS Professor Award includes a grant of up to $80,000 per year to support creative and innovative pursuits in cancer research. For Greider, a professor of molecular, cell, and developmental biology, the funds will support research advancing her Nobel-winning discovery of the DNA caps at the ends of chromosomes called telomeres.
Specifically, the award recognizes Greider’s recent discovery that telomere lengths follow a different pattern than had been previously understood. In a study published last year, her team reported that different chromosomes have separate end-specific telomere-length distributions—a finding that shattered the scientific consensus that telomere lengths fall under one general range of shortest to longest across all chromosomes.
Telomeres, which cap the ends of chromosomes, play a critical role in the vital cell-renewal process critical for everything from replacing sunburnt skin to replenishing our blood supply. Short telomeres cause age-related degenerative diseases like pulmonary fibrosis, bone-marrow failure, and immunosuppression. Meanwhile, long telomeres predispose people to cancer.
The enzyme telomerase plays a key role in maintaining the length of telomeres as chromosomes replicate during cell division. For over three decades, Greider has been a leading researcher in this area, and the impact of the discoveries she has made over that time are why she, along with two colleagues, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2009.
“We have known for over 30 years that cancer cells require telomere maintenance for growth and that telomerase is a potential target for cancer therapy. Why has there not been significant progress in targeting telomeres in cancer during this time?” Greider asked in her grant proposal. “Two key obstacles are: insufficient understanding of the fundamental mechanisms regulating telomere length and inadequate tools to measure telomere length. Our work addresses both of these issues.”
The specific experiments that Greider’s lab will focus on will evolve over the next five years as new findings emerge. She said the overarching goal is to focus on defining regulation of telomere-length homeostasis in normal and cancer cells at a deep mechanistic level. “This detailed understanding will lay the groundwork for new approaches to cancer diagnosis and treatment,” Greider said.
The full list of ACS Professors can be found online.