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Summer 2016 : Cancer, meet your match

Cancer, meet your match

Andrew Sabin Family Fellows named

Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D., provost and executive vice president; Andy Sabin, Board of Visitors member; and Ronald DePinho, M.D., president. Photo by Gary Fountain.

Eight of MD Anderson's brightest young scientists are the inaugural awardees of the Andrew Sabin Family Fellowship Program, established through the generosity of MD Anderson Cancer Center Board of Visitors member Andrew Sabin.

The New York businessman and philanthropist and his family foundation donated $30 million to reward creative, independent thinkers eager to take on high-risk, high-impact research. The program will fund up to eight fellowships each year, with each fellow receiving $100,000 over two years. This year's Andew Sabin Family Fellows, selected from among 65 highly competitive applicants, are:

Ken Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
David Hui, M.D., assistant professor, Palliative, Rehabilitation and Integrative Medicine and General Oncology
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D., assistant professor, Genetics and Bioinformatics
Katharina Schlacher, Ph.D., assistant professor, Cancer Biology
Ferdinandos Skoulidis, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology
Benjamin Smith, M.D., associate professor, Radiation Oncology and Health Services Research
Cullen Taniguchi, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Radiation Oncology
Shannon Westin, M.D., assistant professor, Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine

Sabin is president of Sabin Metal Corporation, the largest privately owned precious metals refiner and recycler in the country. He is an avid environmentalist, conservationist, wildlife enthusiast and advocate for increased cancer research funding on a national level.

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