Stuart A. Aaronson

Stuart A. Aaronson, M.D.
Born	(1942-02-28)February 28, 1942 Mount Clemens, Michigan
Alma mater	UC Berkeley, UC SF
Occupation	biologist
Employer	The Mount Sinai Hospital
Known for	Cancer research
Title	Jane B. and Jack R. Aron Professor of Neoplastic Diseases and Founding Chair Emeritus of Oncological Sciences

Stuart A. Aaronson, M.D., is an American author and internationally recognized cancer biologist. He has authored more than 500 publications and holds over 50 patents, and was the Jane B. and Jack R. Aron Professor of Neoplastic Diseases and Chairman of Oncological Sciences at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City until March 2013, when he assumed the title of Founding Chair Emeritus of the Department of Oncological Sciences. The current Chairman of Oncological Sciences is Ramon E. Parsons.

Biography

Aaronson graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962, with a degree in chemistry. He earned his M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center in 1966, and completed a fellowship at the University of Cambridge in England and an internship in medicine at Moffitt Hospital in San Francisco.

In 1967, Aaronson joined the National Institutes of Health as a Senior Staff Fellow. He headed the Molecular Biology Section of the Viral Carcinogenesis Branch from 1970 until 1977, after which he became Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute, until 1993, when he was named Chairman of Oncological Sciences at The Mount Sinai Hospital.

Research

Aaronson's early research established the transformation-competent but replication-defective nature of mammalian sarcoma viruses and molecularly cloned many of their oncogenes. His investigations of the v-sis oncogene established the first normal function of an oncogene and its role in growth factor signaling. His discovery of erbB2 as a v-erbB-related gene amplified in a human breast carcinoma and the demonstration of its transforming properties paved the way for targeted therapies directed against its product, and his successful isolation of KGF (FGF7), a growth factor present in the epithelialization-phase of wound healing, led to Amgen's successful phase III clinical trial and FDA approval of KGF for treatment of mucositis. Current research includes investigations into the mechanisms by which tumor suppressor genes induce permanent growth arrest/senescence, the signaling pathways involved, and investigations of the autocrine and paracrine acting growth factors PDGF, KGF, HGF, and Wnt ligands.

Awards and honors

• 1982 Rhoads Memorial Award
• 1982 PHS Meritorious Service Medal
• 1989 Paul Ehrlich Award
• 1989 PHS Distinguished Service Medal
• 1990 Milken Award
• 1991 Chirone Prize
• 1991 Harvey Lecture
• 1991 Wadsworth Memorial Foundation Award
• 2005 FLC Mid-Atlantic Regional Excellence in Technology Transfer Award – Kepivance
• 2006 National FLC Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer – Kepivance: Improving the Quality of Life for Cancer Patients

Patents

Partial list:

Patent Number	Title
6479255	Polynucleotides encoding human FRP and fragments thereof
6225088	DNA encoding plasminogen-like growth factor (PLGF) and related embodiments
6228600	Immunoassays for the alpha platelet-derived growth factor receptor
6403769	Fusion proteins that include antibody and nonantibody portions
6566098	DNA encoding truncated hepatocyte growth factor variants
6639060	erbB-3 nucleic acids
6653084	Anti-erbB-2 antibodies to human receptor related to but distinct from EGF receptor
6660488	Antibodies for the alpha platelet-derived growth factor receptor
6709842	DNA encoding a growth factor specific for epithelial cells
6833132	Method of stimulating epithelial cells using keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) and method of inhibiting KGF activity

Publications

Partial list:

External links

• The Mount Sinai Hospital homepage
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai homepage
• Activation of a Cancer Gene by Single Mutation Reported. The New York Times, September 28, 1983
• Cancer Gene Linked to Flaws in Growth of an Ordinary Cell. The New York Times, February 10, 1984
• The Long Road: Scientists worked for years to unravel Met's role in cancer. Cover story, Chemical & Engineering News, August 20, 2007
• http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2812%2901316-4?utm_source=ECE001&utm_campaign=&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&bid=8BFV24F:ONNE3OC
• http://web.archive.org/web/20120909024225/http://www.science-fraud.org/?tag=sw-lee
• Retraction of Molecular Cell 36, 379–392; November 13, 2009 in Molecular Cell, Volume 51, Issue 4, 552, 22 August 2013
• http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/retrieve/pii/S1097276513005789#cor1