Elwood Jensen Named Strauss Chair for Cancer Research

Elwood V. Jensen, PhD, visiting professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Vontz Center for Molecular Studies at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center, is the first person to receive the John and Gladys Strauss Chair in Cancer Research. The John and Gladys Strauss Chair in Cancer Research was established in 2001 by Mr. Strauss in memory of his wife in order to provide cutting edge cancer research.A pioneer in the field of endocrinology and cancer, Dr. Jensen was one of the three eminent scientists to win the inaugural Kirk and Dorothy P. Landon Foundation prizes from the American Association for Cancer Research. These international awards were recently established to promote and reward exceptional contributions to the understanding of cancer through basic research and its application to patients. In the 2000 book entitled

Estrogens, Estrogen Receptor and Breast Cancer

, the author Fritz Parl, MD, PhD, professor of pathology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, featured Dr. Jensen as one of the eight greatest estrogen/breast cancer researchers in the last 100 years.Dr. Jensen's identification of an intracellular receptor for estrogen completely revised concepts of the action of all types of steroid hormones with important implications for cancer.  He purified the estrogen receptor and prepared specific antibodies to it (the first for any steroid hormone receptor), which made possible the cloning by others of the estrogen receptor protein. His research findings about tamoxifen and other hormonal therapy help physicians target therapy for breast cancer patients, saving many women from undergoing ineffective treatment. A biopsy of the tumor spares estrogen-receptor-negative patients, whose tumors are not dependent on estrogen, from receiving hormonal treatments that will not help them. This information also allows those same patients to receive the more aggressive chemotherapy and/or radiation treatments sooner, before the cancer spreads. "It is certainly an honor to have Dr. Jensen at our institution and as part of our department," said Peter Stambrook, PhD, chairman of the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy at the UC Vontz Center for Molecular Studies. "He will set a high standard for the future holders of the Strauss Chair for Cancer Research."