Noted Cancer Researcher Receives Beering Award At Indiana University School Of Medicine

INDIANAPOLIS - Harvard researcher Judah Folkman, M.D., who is considered the father of modern angiogenesis research, received the 1998 Steven C. Beering Award from the Indiana University School of Medicine during ceremonies Nov. 11.

The Beering Award is presented annually to an outstanding medical research scientist. The award was named in honor of Steven Beering, M.D., who served as dean of IUSM from 1974 to 1983. Dr. Beering currently is president of Purdue University.

Dr. Folkman has received national and international attention for his research into the effects of the proliferation of blood vessels during the development of some types of tumors.

He was the first to observe the activity of angiogenesis - the development of blood vessels to support tumor growth. He also proposed the concept of naturally occurring angiogenic inhibitors. His research team later identified the first of these - angiostatic steroids - as well as two other kinds of inhibitors. Two of his discoveries are now in human trials, one to test angiogenesis inhibition in children with life-threatening hemangioma and one to test an angiogenic therapy for otherwise untreatable peptic ulcers.

Dr. Folkman is the Julia Dyckman Andrus Professor of Pediatric Surgery and professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School.

He received his medical degree magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and completed his internship and residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He served as surgeon-in-chief and chairman of surgery at Children's Hospital in Boston for 14 years, but stepped down from the position in 1981 to devote his full effort to angiogenesis research. He now serves as a senior associate in surgery and director of surgical research.

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