Butel receives award for women in cancer research

HOUSTON -- (April 9, 2007) -- Dr. Janet Butel, chair of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is slated to deliver the Women in Cancer Research-Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship April 14 at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in Los Angeles.

The lectureship recognizes Butel, the Joseph L. Melnick Professor of Virology at BCM, for her fundamental contributions to the biology of tumor viruses, their oncogenic mechanisms and their importance in the infectious etiology of cancer. Butel, a Distinguished Service Professor at BCM, focuses her research on small DNA tumor viruses called polyomaviruses, the structure and function of the viral oncogene proteins and mechanisms of tumor development. She also leads the molecular carcinogenesis program of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at BCM.

The Women in Cancer Research Council of the AACR established this lectureship in 1998 to honor renowned virologist and discoverer of the Friend virus, Dr. Charlotte Friend. The lecture recognizes an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of women in science.

Butel’s lecture is entitled “Polyomavirus SV40: insights into viral carcinogenesis.”