Alan D’Andrea, MD elected to National Academy of Sciences

Alan D’Andrea, MD, director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers and the Center for DNA Damage and Repair at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). The election recognizes D’Andrea’s distinguished and continuing achievements in original scientific research. D’Andrea also serves as the Fuller-American Cancer Society Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School.

“Election to the Academy is one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive,” said Laurie Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “This well-deserved recognition is a testament to Alan’s landmark contributions to cancer research and his dedication to the advancement of science.”

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit society of distinguished scholars. Established by an Act of Congress signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the NAS is charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers to membership in the NAS for outstanding contributions to research.

D’Andrea is internationally known for his research in DNA damage and DNA repair. His laboratory also investigates the pathogenesis of Fanconi anemia, a genetic disease characterized by a DNA repair defect, bone marrow failure, and cancer predisposition.

Additionally, D’Andrea is a principal investigator of a Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant which supports research in overcoming treatment resistance in ovarian cancer and helps deliver promising research from the laboratory to clinical practice.

Dr. D’Andrea received his Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School in 1983. He did his residency at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and completed a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at Dana-Farber and Boston Children’s Hospital. He completed a research fellowship at the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he cloned the receptor for erythropoietin, the major hormone for blood production. Dr. D’Andrea joined the Dana-Farber faculty in 1990.

A recipient of numerous academic awards, Dr. D’Andrea is a former Stohlman Scholar of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a Distinguished Clinical Investigator of the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, a recipient of the E. Mead Johnson Award from the Society for Pediatric Research, a recipient of the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and a member of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy.