| 1 | Name: | Dr. Alfred G. Knudson | |
| Institution: | Fox Chase Cancer Center | ||
| Year Elected: | 1991 | ||
| Class: | 2. Biological Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 207. Genetics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1922 | ||
| Death Date: | July 10, 2016 | ||
Alfred G. Knudson was a senior member at the Fox Chase Cancer Center's Institute for Cancer Research since 1976. He earned his M.D. from Columbia University in 1947 and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1956. Prior to joining Fox Chase as scientific director (1976-83) and president (1980-82), he served as chairman of the City of Hope Medical Center's department of pediatrics (1956-62) and department of biology (1962-66); as professor and associate dean at State University of New York, Stony Brook (1966-69); and as professor and dean of the University of Texas, Houston's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and professor at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (1970-76). Having advanced his two-hit hypothesis that hereditary cancers are due to the somatic loss or mutation of the second allele of a gene responsible for regulating cell growth and development, Dr. Knudson was known for having made the first rational explanation, in modern genetic terms, for the relationship between hereditary and non-hereditary cancers. His breakthrough led to a great surge of productivity in many laboratories and an advanced understanding of errors in the genetic program that turn normal cells into cancer cells. Dr. Knudson was the recipient of many distinguished awards, including the Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award (1998), the Gairdner Award (1997) and the Kyoto Prize (2004). Alfred Knudson died July 10, 2016, at the age of 93, at his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | |||