We are proud to announce that Prof. Stephen B. Baylin, Officer at the Cancer Epigenetics Society and Editor of Cancer Epigenetics, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, USA.
This distinction is in recognition of his work in basic and applied research in the fields of epigenetics and cancer epigenetics. Prof. Baylin has made major contributions to our understanding of the molecular epigenetic bases of tumor progression in humans and experimental models.
Co-founder and co-leader of the national Stand-up to Cancer epigenetics dream team (SU2C), Professor of Oncology at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Co-director of the Cancer Biology Program at the Sydney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, and author of more than 400 publications, Prof. Baylin currently investigates novel therapies for colorectal cancer, acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia.
Prof. Baylin showed that increased DNA methylation accompanies the increase in DNMT transcripts observed during progressive stages of colon cancer. He was also first to show that inhibition of DNA methylation and histone deacetylation prevents certain cancers in murine models.
In the field of epigenetic therapeutics, Prof. Baylin is actively involved in a large number of studies, including research on DNA demethylating agents (DNMTi), histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), and lysine-specific demethylase inhibitors (KDMi) as potent tools for cancer management.
Other Cancer Epigenetics Society Officers elected to the National Academy of Sciences, USA, include C. David Allis (Rockefeller University) and Peter Jones (Van Andel Research Institute), Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Epigenetics.
The US National Academy of Sciences was established by the American Congress in 1863. It is a private, non-governmental institution which, together with the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, advises the US government on science, technology and health policy (Cancer Epigenetics Society news, July 18, 2017).
