Susan Hankinson, Distinguished Professor of epidemiology and associate dean for research in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was honored with the American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention from the American Association for Cancer Research.
The citation for the award acknowledges Professor Hankinson’s “remarkable contributions to the fields of cancer epidemiology, biomarkers, prevention and the etiology of breast cancer. Her seminal work revealed profound insights into the association of sex hormones, and other hormones, with breast cancer risk, and cumulatively has provided critical new knowledge into the hormonal etiology of breast cancer in both pre- and post-menopausal women.”
“I was very surprised but incredibly honored to receive this award,” Dr. Hankinson said. “I have looked up to many of the prior recipients for years because of their accomplishments, and several were important mentors to me. This makes receiving the award that much more meaningful.”
Professor Hankinson joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 2011 after teaching at Harvard Medicl School and the Harvard School of Public Health. She is a graduate of the University of Southern Mane, where she majored in nursing. Dr. Hankinson earned a master’s degree and a master of public health degree at the University of Minnesota and doctorate in epidemiology at Harvard University.