The Cancer Research Institute enjoyed its most successful annual awards dinner to date, setting a new record by raising more than $1.5 million to support the Institute's programs. Three-hundred-fifty guests gathered in the Rainbow Room in New York City on June 26th to join the Institute in celebrating historic scientific breakthroughs in cancer research and in honoring industry leaders who have made significant contributions to cancer awareness, research, and treatment. First held in 1975, the annual awards dinner has become an opportunity for the Institute to pay tribute to the scientific and philanthropic leaders who are making significant impact in cancer research.

Each year, the Institute bestows the William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic and Tumor Immunology, named in honor of the Father of Cancer Immunotherapy, upon scientific leaders whose seminal discoveries have advanced the fields of immunology and tumor immunology, and the Oliver R. Grace Award for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research, named in honor of CRI's co-founder and long-time chairman, upon philanthropists and corporate leaders whose support and dedication help to fuel scientific discovery.

This year also saw the inaugural bestowal of the Helen Coley Nauts Service Award, which honors individuals who have made significant contributions of time, energy, and service to the Institute. The award is named in memory of CRI's founder, Helen Coley Nauts (1907-2001), who dedicated her life to advancing immune-based therapies for cancer.

Special keynote speaker Lee Nadler, M.D., senior vice president of Experimental Medicine and director of the Center for Clinical & Translational Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor of Medicine at Harvard University, remarked how challenges we face today in our efforts to develop cancer vaccines are similar to those posed during the battle against polio in the mid-20th century. Most significant among these challenges are the lack of cooperation on the part of industry and academia, insufficient government support of research efforts, and a need for business leaders to step up and make the financial commitments needed to advance cancer vaccine research. Dr. Nadler described how, in the 1940s and 1950s, the March of Dimes spearheaded joint efforts on the part of academia, business, government, and industry to make possible the development of a vaccine against the polio virus. He told how the CRI-LICR Cancer Vaccine Collaborative is today's counterpart to the March of Dimes, brokering partnerships and coordinating global efforts to develop effective cancer vaccines. Click here to listen to Dr. Nadler's speech.

Dinner guests also heard from 25-year old melanoma survivor Sharon Coords-Belvin, who told an emotionally riveting story about how cancer nearly claimed her life before a new therapy called anti-CTLA-4, discovered by CRI Scientific Advisory Council Associate Director James Allison, Ph.D., and administered by CRI-LICR Cancer Vaccine Collaborative member Jedd D. Wolchok, M.D., took the brakes off her immune system and sent her cancer into remission. Click here to listen to Sharon's story.  

CRI President Patrick J. McGrath was named the first ever Helen Coley Nauts Service Award recipient. CRI Co-Chairman Andrew Paul, who presented the award, praised Mr. McGrath's dedication to the Cancer Research Institute, particularly his shaping of CRI's communications strategies and his success in helping the Institute convey is message more effectively. A surprised Mr. McGrath, who was not previously informed of the award, graciously accepted the honor.

CRI Co-Chairman Donald Gogel presented the first of the evening's 2007 Oliver R. Grace Awards for Distinguished Service in Advancing Cancer Research to David R. Brennan, CEO of AstraZeneca PLC, in recognition of his company's outstanding contributions to cancer treatment. Mr. Brennan accepted the award on behalf of AstraZeneca's oncology research team, and spoke of their enthusiam, dedication, and exemplary performance that have allowed the company to excel in offering new treatments for cancer. CRI Executive Director Jill O'Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., presented the second Grace Award to Wade F.B. Thompson, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Thor Industries. Dr. O'Donnell-Tormey lauded Mr. Thompson's passion for philanthropy, noting his commitment to and deep involvement in the Institute's activities. She also praised his dedication to raising prostate cancer awareness through The Drive Against Prostate Cancer, a national tour of mobile prostate cancer screening clinics donated by Thor Industries that has provided free screenings to more than 60,000 men. Mr. Thompson called on attendees to rally behind the Cancer Research Institute's efforts to find new ways to fight cancer, which he called, "the most noble cause of the 21st Century."

CRI Scientific Advisory Council Associate Director Dr. James Allison, chairman of the Immunology Program and head of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, presented the 2007 Coley Award to Dr. Jeffrey V. Ravetch, professor of Molecular Genetics and Immunology at The Rockefeller University. Dr. Allison lauded Dr. Ravetch's many contributions to our understanding of how antibodies function. This knowledge has led to numerous clinical applications, including the improvement of anti-cancer antibody therapies like Rituximab, used in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and rheumatoid arthritis. In his acceptance, Dr. Ravetch thanked CRI Scientific Advisory Council Director Dr. Lloyd J. Old, whose dedication to antibody therapeutics provided much inspiration for his work. He also extended his gratitude to Dr. Ralph Steinman and Dr. Michel Nussenzweig, colleages of his at The Rockefeller University for challenging and supporting one another's work and for making the business of science a delight. He concluded by sharing a quote from American Modernist poet Wallace Stevens's "The Man with the Blue Guitar," in which Dr. Ravetch likened science to the blue guitar that "changes things as they are."

The Institute thanks all the dinner co-chairs, including Dr. Robert L. Bratzler, Lisa Schoenberg, and CRI trustees Brian J. Brille, John B. Fitzgibbons, Donald J. Gogel, William M. Lewis, Jr., Andrew M. Paul, and Thomas E. Tuft. A special thanks goes to Soledad O'Brien, who helped tell CRI's story so well and who kept the evening moving along at a brisk and satisfying pace. CRI also extends its gratitude to the many individuals, corporations, and foundations whose generosity made this the most successful dinner in the Institute's history.