UC San Diego Scientist Named Pew-Stewart Scholar for Cancer Research

"Dr. Shiri Gur-Cohen exemplifies Moores Cancer Center's innovative spirit,” said Diane Simeone, MD, director of Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health. “Her pioneering research on stem cells and the vascular system in cancer holds great promise. We're proud of her Pew-Stewart Scholar recognition and look forward to the impact of her work. Her dedication to mentorship ensures future advancements in cancer research."

Gur-Cohen’s work focuses on how stem cells and non-genetic variables involving the vascular system might fuel cancer formation and metastasis. 

“We know that genetic changes in healthy cells can cause cancer to form, but they don't inform us of when onset might occur or how severe the cancer might become,” she said. 

Gur-Cohen aims to leverage cutting-edge technologies to develop novel therapeutics that block early cancer progression and combat disease spread. Ultimately, she hopes to eliminate cancer as a life-threatening disease and significant public health burden — and even to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

“I envision a world where a cancer diagnosis no longer strikes fear and squeezes our hearts with anxiety,” she said. “It will be a manageable disease, with myriad therapies and ways to avert it, from early to late stages — until one day, it is no longer.”

Science “just isn’t there yet,” she added. “But this is the goal that inspires me to wake up each morning and collaborate with incredibly smart and talented team members. This is what motivates me to share my research.”

Pew-Stewart scholars are afforded numerous opportunities to network with each other — an aspect of the honor that is highly attractive to Gur-Cohen.

“We’re not going to cure cancer individually,” she said. “It’s a team effort, and this is how science should be: collaborative. I’m extremely fortunate to be part of the UC San Diego and Sanford Stem Cell Institute community, where collaboration and sharing new ideas are deeply valued.”    

Gur-Cohen earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Immunology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and her B.A. in molecular biochemistry and M.Sc. in medical sciences at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. She has published multiple high-profile papers in top-tier scientific journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell Stem Cell and more. She has presented leading-edge scientific discoveries at conferences around the world.

Gur-Cohen’s groundbreaking work has been recognized via numerous honors, including the prestigious Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators from The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medicine and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; The V Foundation Award; the Tower Cancer Center Award; the Revson-Weizmann Award for Advancing Women in Science; the Human Frontier Science Program and European Molecular Biology Organization postdoctoral award; and the Helen and Martin Kimmel Stem Cell Award.

The Pew-Stewart Scholars program is funded by The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust and administered by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

About the Moores Cancer Center

As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health is among the top 4% of approximately 1,500 cancer centers in the United States and one of only 56 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation.

About the Sanford Stem Cell Institute

The UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute is a global leader in regenerative medicine and a hub for stem cell science and innovation in space. SSCI aims to catalyze critical basic research discoveries, translational advances and clinical progress — terrestrially and in space — to develop and deliver novel therapeutics to patients.