New Brunswick, NJ (April 25, 2024) – RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, have announced that Eileen White, PhD, Deputy Director and Chief Scientific Officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute, has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence by bringing leaders from every field of human endeavor together to examine new ideas and address critical issues of importance to the nation and the world. The organization’s work has paved the way for the direction of research analysis in areas such as science and technology policy, global security and international affairs, social policy, education, the humanities, and the arts.
Dr. White is a cancer biologist, known for her work establishing that a DNA tumor virus oncogene functions by inhibiting programmed cell death by apoptosis. She also established that tumor cells induce intracellular nutrient scavenging by autophagy, which promotes their metabolism, growth, survival and malignancy.
She was previously a Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellow and Staff Investigator at Cold Spring Laboratory before moving to Rutgers University, where she contributed to the establishment of Rutgers Cancer Institute. Dr. White was pivotal in the establishment of the Princeton Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at Princeton University and serves as its Associate Director.
“It is my honor to be named a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and join a long list of my esteemed colleagues,” said Dr. White who is also a Board of Governors Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. “There is no limit to what we can do together to address significant challenges facing our society, including those in the science and healthcare arena.”
“Dr. White’s election to this extraordinary organization is the next chapter in a career already brimming with remarkable achievements,” added Steven K. Libutti, MD, Director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Senior Vice President, Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health. “This recognition is a testament to her breakthrough research and dedication in the fight against cancer. We are proud to have her on our team.”
The induction will take place Friday, September 20, 2024, with a formal ceremony on Saturday, September 21, 2024, in Cambridge, MA.
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About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex surgical procedures. Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy – many of which are not widely available – patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving.
