Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) Professor Chris Vakoc has been awarded The Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research in recognition of his significant and ongoing contributions to the understanding of cancer.
Presented through Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), the prize is awarded to up to three young scientists every two years. Vakoc and his fellow prize recipients will each receive a medal and a cash award of $50,000. They will also present their ongoing research at a scientific symposium hosted by MSKCC.
An expert in how genes are controlled and regulated, Vakoc studies how dysfunctional gene control can aid and even lead to cancer. By better understanding how cancer can be driven by the epigenome, which is the realm of chemical components that attach to DNA and change how it is read by a cell, Vakoc and his colleagues can identify new therapeutic targets.
“I am thrilled to have the cancer epigenetics research of our lab recognized by this award, particularly since the namesake of this award, Paul Marks, is a pioneer in advancing epigenetic therapies for cancer,” Vakoc said.
Alongside Vakoc, Nathanael Gray of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Joshua Mendell of UT Southwestern received this 2019 award.
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