Hughes investigator

Markowitz is first Hughes investigator

by George Stamatis

Sanford D. Markowitz, a leading cancer researcher, is CWRU's first investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Markowitz is a professor of medicine and a cancer researcher in the School of Medicine, and on staff at University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Announced in May, his appointment as an associate investigator is a major honor and accomplishment in the world of medical research. Markowitz is one of only two new researchers chosen in Ohio and 70 picked nationally.

As an HHMI investigator, Markowitz's laboratory will remain at CWRU, but for the next six years it will receive direct financial support from HHMI. Markowitz estimates this support will enable him to add an additional six cancer researchers to his laboratory, nearly doubling its present size. While the dollar amount has not been finalized, HHMI officials say that financial support will range from $500,000 to $1 million annually.

"I feel tremendously excited for what this may mean for the work we're trying to do in cancer research," said Markowitz. "And I feel deeply grateful for the support of all of the people who have been my colleagues in the laboratory, my collaborators at CWRU, and my donors in the community, all who have helped make this possible."

Nathan A. Berger, CWRU vice president for medical affairs and dean of the medical school, said, "The appointment recognizes Dr. Markowitz's excellent accomplishments and future promise, as well as the medical school's outstanding scientific and intellectual environment. We look forward to an exciting and productive scientific interaction with the Hughes Institute."

Markowitz is the co-discoverer of the RII gene, which, when mutated, causes cancer on the right side of the colon. First reported in 1995, the finding is leading to the development of a blood test for early diagnosis and has opened the door for gene therapy of the disease in the future.

Colon cancer is the second leading cancer-related cause of death and the second-most-common cancer in America (with 150,000 new cases reported each year).

Markowitz has been with CWRU since 1987. Prior to coming to Cleveland, he was a researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He did his undergraduate work at Harvard College and received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Yale University.

Markowitz's appointment is part of the largest expansion undertaken in one step by HHMI, which is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland. HHMI will expand its ranks by 25 percent, increasing the number of researchers to more than 330 investigators based at 72 medical schools, universities, and research institutes throughout the country.

The institute is the nation's largest philanthropic organization and a leading supporter of medical research. It has an endowment of around $9.6 billion and an annual budget of $455 million -- $338 million of that for biomedical research expenditures.

HHMI's 330 investigators include many of the world's leaders in the fields of cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, and structural biology. They include five Nobel Prize winners and more than 60 members of the National Academy of Sciences.

In recent years, they have made significant discoveries related to obesity, AIDS, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and many other medical problems.