Ludwig Scientific Advisor Karen Vousden received the AACR-G.H.A. Clowes Award for Outstanding Basic Cancer Research and gave an award lecture at the 2025 AACR Annual meeting in late April. Karen was honored for her investigations of the biology of tumor suppressors and contributions to cancer metabolism. Karen’s “research elucidated the regulation of p53 by MDM2, defined key metabolic dependencies in cancer cells, and revealed the impact of dietary interventions on tumor progression,” the AACR noted in issuing the award. “Her insights into reactive oxygen species in tumor development and metastasis have informed therapeutic strategies.” Karen is well known for her contributions to our understanding of how the tumor suppressor p53 is regulated in health and disease, and its role in cell metabolism. Her early work established that MDM2 is a ubiquitin ligase that tags p53 for degradation and described how the protein is inhibited to permit p53-mediated responses to cellular stress. Those studies laid the foundations for the development of cancer therapies targeting MDM2. Karen is also renowned for her characterization of HPV’s role in cervical cancer and elucidation of how the oncoproteins it encodes drive carcinogenesis. In her award lecture, Karen discussed her lab’s ongoing studies on the complex role of reactive oxygen species in cancer progression and metastasis.
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