Dr. Webster Cavenee did his graduate and postdoctoral training in cell biology, biochemistry and human genetics. He received his Ph.D. with honors in 1977 from the University of Kansas Medical School and then did postdoctoral work at the Jackson Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Utah. Dr. Cavenee has held faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati and McGill University, where he was Founding Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research’s Montreal Branch. From 1991 to 2015 he was Founding Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research’s San Diego Branch and Distinguished Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Since 2015 he has served with global responsibilities as Ludwig Cancer Research’s Director of Strategic Alliances in Central Nervous System Cancers.
Among Dr. Cavenee’s most recognized accomplishments are those associated with research into the genetic basis of cancer predisposition, tumor progression, oncogenic cellular signaling and the use of genetic approaches for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. He has served on many U.S. National Institutes of Health review and advisory panels, including the Boards of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, as well those of several private foundations and international institutions. Dr. Cavenee has also been President of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Dr. Cavenee is an elected member or fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Leopoldina German Academy of Science, the AACR Academy, the International Union Against Cancer, the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the American Academy of Microbiology. He has published more than 380 scientific papers and received more than 120 honors, including the Charles S. Mott Prize of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the Albert Szent-Gyorgyi Award from the National Foundation for Cancer Research, the Feldman Founder’s Award from the National Brain Tumor Society, AACR’s Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research and the Friendship Award from the People’s Republic of China.
