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Dr. Brian Druker is the JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research and Professor of Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute. He is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Dr. Brian Druker has revolutionized the treatment of cancer through research to develop Gleevec, the first drug to target the genetic defects of a particular cancer while leaving healthy cells unharmed. Based on his studies, Gleevec is now the treatment of choice for patients with CML, and its success has opened the door to developing targeted therapies for other cancers. More than a decade ago, Dr. Druker identified STI571, the precursor to Gleevec, as a promising anticancer compound for its ability to kill CML cells by turning off the signal of the abnormal cancer-causing protein. He also conducted the first clinical studies of Gleevec, demonstrating that the drug could effectively return blood cell counts to normal in CML patients, with only minor side effects. Dr. Druker's current research projects are aimed at learning why each year some 4 percent of newly diagnosed patients with CML develop resistance to Gleevec and why most patients on the drug have minute levels of cancer that linger even after treatment ends. Resistance to Gleevec most commonly results from mutations in the BCR-ABL kinase that reactivates its signaling mechanism. He recently identified a class of compounds that can inhibit most of these mutants, and similar compounds are now in clinical trials. Dr. Druker has received many prestigious awards for his oncology research, including the Medal of Honor from the American Cancer Society, the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, and the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Druker earned both his BS degree in chemistry and his MD degree from the University of California, San Diego. | 