Lee C. Howley Sr. Prize for Arthritis Scientific Research
The 2021 Lee C. Howley Sr. Prize Recipient
Andrew C. Chan, MD, PhD, is senior vice president of research biology at Genentech, where he has overseen biological research in oncology, immunology, neuroscience, infectious diseases and biotherapeutic discovery for the past decade. He is an accomplished leader in target discovery, drug discovery and drug development.
Dr. Chan’s laboratory focuses on how our immune systems protect us against foreign pathogens yet can cause autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. He has published over 100 research papers, review articles and books. Dr. Chan is co-inventor of ocrelizumab (Ocrevus™), the first B-cell-directed therapy approved by the FDA for treatment of both relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis.
He plays key roles to bridge academia, patient advocacy and industry. He presently serves as chair of the executive advisory board of the Chemistry Life Processes Institute (Northwestern University) and is a member of the national council at Washington University School of Medicine and of the biopharma advisory board at Washington University.
Dr. Chan has been a highly engaged and dedicated Arthritis Foundation volunteer for more than 20 years. He has been a strong advocate of the adult and pediatric fellowship programs at Stanford and UCSF through the San Francisco office and expanded fellowship support throughout the Great West Region of the Foundation. He then brought that expertise to help the national home office create a robust new fellowship program in 2017. He has chaired the new fellowship program since its inception.
Dr. Chan has served on the Arthritis Foundation’s national medical and scientific advisory committee since 2015 and is the medical and scientific chair of the local leadership board in the San Francisco area. He also leads the annual Knowles Lecture, now in its 55th year. This year, he spearheaded the new patient education webinar series serving the Northern California region. Most recently, he was an integral part of the success of the sold-out Corks for a Cure wine event.
Sponsoring Organization
Eligibility
Evaluation Criteria
- A notable impact furthering the mission of the Arthritis Foundation
- An ability to open doors or mobilize volunteers in expanding the presence of the Arthritis Foundation
- Partnership development in the area of mission and/or fundraising
- Highly successful fundraising efforts
- Significance: The research is in alignment with the mission of the Arthritis Foundation, which is focused on finding a cure and championing the fight against arthritis and related diseases with life-changing information, advocacy, science and community.
- Innovation: The study challenges existing paradigms and presents an innovative hypothesis and/or addresses a research gap, accelerates translational research, removes barriers and/or catalyzes the development of the field of arthritis and related diseases. The research develops or employs novel concepts, approaches, methods, tools and/or technologies.
Previous Recipients
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