Pioneers in Life-Saving Cancer Research and Treatment to be Honored with 2026 Albany Prize
The 2026 Albany Prize will be presented to two medical research leaders whose groundbreaking work led to development of new cancer treatments that have extended and improved the lives of millions of cancer patients around the world, including life-saving treatments for leukemia, breast, lung, kidney, colon, and other cancers.
Celebrating 25 years this year, the $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research is one of the largest of its kind in the United States.
“The Albany Prize was created by the late Marty Silverman to help establish Albany and Albany Medical Center as a national and international hub of excellence in scientific discovery,” said Alan S. Boulos, MD ’94, the Lynne and Mark D. Groban, MD ’67 Distinguished Dean of Albany Medical College and chair of the Albany Prize National Selection Committee. “As we celebrate a quarter of a century of recognizing the most influential scientists of our time, let us pause to honor Marty for his visionary leadership and the high standards he set for us, defined by the same principles driving our vision for First Choice 2030: To be the region’s most trusted, accessible, and transformative health system.”
The 2026 recipients are:
Tony Hunter, PhD
American Cancer Society Professor
Renato Dulbecco Chair in Cancer Research
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Dennis J. Slamon, MD, PhD
Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine
Endowed Chair, The Bowyer Professorship of Medical Oncology
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
University of California Los Angeles
Dr. Boulos continued: “The pioneering work of both Dr. Hunter and Dr. Slamon helped usher in a new era of safer precision cancer medicine, making treatments more targeted and effective and saving lives, including patients we care for here every day at Albany Med. They’ve changed the course of cancer care for millions of people worldwide and their families. This year, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Albany Prize, we are proud to honor these two extraordinary researchers who embody the bench-to-bedside mission of the Albany Prize to translate promising scientific hypotheses into effective treatment of patients.”
Dr. Tony Hunter Discovers an “On/Off Switch” Leading to Cancerous Cell Growth
While studying tumor viruses in 1979 at the Salk Institute, Dr. Tony Hunter discovered that certain enzymes, called tyrosine kinases, help control how cells grow and divide by adding a chemical signal to proteins. He found attaching a phosphate molecule to the amino acid tyrosine could act as the master on/off switch for cell growth and division. His research revealed that when the “switch” malfunctions or stays on permanently, it creates cancerous cell growth.
Dr. Hunter’s findings provided a direct blueprint for breakthrough molecular-targeted cancer therapies as opposed to traditional chemotherapy, which does not distinguish between cancer cells and healthy cells. His discovery led to the development of more than 90 cancer drugs that inhibit tyrosine kinases, including Gleevec. By targeting an aberrant tyrosine kinase, Gleevec has transformed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) from a fatal disease into a manageable chronic condition.
Dr. Dennis Slamon’s Discovery of HER2 Gene Changes Breast Cancer Treatment
Physician and researcher Dr. Dennis Slamon is being honored for his seminal research that led to the development of the molecularly targeted breast cancer drug Herceptin, which has been used to treat more than three million patients worldwide.
This advance paved the way for additional targeted therapies and led to his subsequent work demonstrating that new cell cycle kinase inhibitors could make a significant positive clinical impact in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the major subtype of the disease. Dr. Slamon published a landmark study in 1987—nearly a decade after Dr. Hunter’s discovery—that found the overexpression of the HER2 gene occurs in select breast cancers, defining an aggressive subtype of the disease in which breast cancer tumors have extra copies of the HER2 gene, causing them to produce more HER2 protein and receive excessive growth signals.
Targeted, Precision Therapies Can Spare Patients Harsh Side Effects of Chemotherapy
The work of Drs. Hunter and Slamon was carried out separately; however, their work connects the scientific foundation and clinical promise of targeted cancer treatments. Dr. Hunter’s discovery unlocked knowledge to help shape Dr. Slamon’s research leading to Herceptin, which was the first antibody therapy targeting a tyrosine kinase to be approved by the FDA in 1998 after Dr. Slamon’s 11-year fight to bring the treatment to patients. Herceptin works as a monoclonal antibody that blocks the activity of a receptor tyrosine kinase called HER2. This targeted treatment is given as an intravenous drug in combination with, or following, chemotherapy. It increases survival by about 45-50 percent in early HER2-positive breast cancer and by 30 percent in metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer.
Traditional chemotherapy is effective at rapidly killing growing cancer cells but is often associated with harsh side effects because it does not distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells. Through the work of this year’s Albany Prize recipients, alternative targeted, precision treatments have been and continue to be developed.
Dr. Hunter said: “It is a tremendous honor to receive the Albany Prize and to join the distinguished scientists who have been recognized over the past 25 years. Seeing the results of our lab’s fundamental discovery lead to targeted therapies that have extended and saved patients’ lives has been deeply gratifying. This recognition also belongs to the many talented colleagues and researchers whose work continues to advance our understanding of cancer and create new hope for patients.”
Dr. Slamon said: “It’s truly an honor to be a recipient of this prestigious prize and to join an extraordinary group of talented dedicated biomedical researchers who have received it previously. It’s been an incredible ride. To see the therapies become more effective and cure rates get higher and higher has been deeply gratifying. Now we want to see if we can take the lessons and apply them to a wider variety of cancers.”
Nobel Laureates and the Albany Prize
Two previous Nobel Prize winners have been among the ranks of researchers honored with the Albany Prize and eleven Albany Prize winners have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, including Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, who was honored with the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in optogenetics — a method that makes it possible to show how nerve cells shape memories, feelings, and behaviors in the living brain. Dr. Deisseroth was awarded the Albany Prize in 2015.
Additional Albany Prize honorees who earned a Nobel Prize include:
- Michael S. Brown, MD
- Joseph L. Goldstein, MD
- Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD
- Ralph Steinman, MD
- Bruce Beutler, MD
- Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD
- Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD
- Emmanuelle Charpentier, PhD
- Jennifer Doudna, PhD
- Katalin Karikó, PhD
- Drew Weissman, MD, PhD
- James P. Allison, PhD
Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2026, the Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research was established by the late Morris “Marty” Silverman, an entrepreneur and decorated World War II veteran, to honor medical doctors and scientists whose discoveries have moved from “the bench to the bedside” and improved patients’ lives. Mr. Silverman and his wife Dorothy were pioneers in the leasing industry. In 1950, they founded their first leasing company, National Equipment Rental, which later became the North American Corporation. In 1984, Mr. Silverman sold what had evolved into the largest privately owned leasing company in the United States.
Supported by a $50 million commitment from the Marty and Dorothy Silverman Foundation, the Albany Prize will be awarded annually for 100 years. It is one of the top biomedical prizes in United States and internationally. Recipients are nominated by their peers and evaluated by an independent national selection committee.