Dr. Nora Disis (right) receives the 2024 UW Medicine Inventor of the Year award from Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Education (left). Photos by Jim Bennett.
CVI Founder and Director Dr. Nora Disis was named 2024 University of Washington School of Medicine's Inventor of the Year for her work on cancer. She accepted the award on October 8 at a ceremony hosted at the Intellectual House on UW’s Seattle campus.
The award honors outstanding UW scientists whose inventions have had a major effect on both human health and our local economy. Dr. Disis is an expert in the immunology and immunotherapy of breast and ovarian cancers, with her research interests lying in the development of therapies, particularly cancer vaccines, for common malignancies. She is one of the investigators who discovered the tumor-specific marker HER-2/neu, which many cancer drugs target today. She holds several patents for targeted cancer therapies and diagnostics, and her work at the CVI focuses on how cancer vaccines can ignite the immune system to detect, treat, and heal cancer — just like it would to fight off an infection.
Gathered at the celebration were current and former colleagues, including members of the CVI, UW Medicine, UW Advancement, and UW Institute of Translational Health Science (of which Dr. Disis was previously director). Dr. Disis' family was in attendance, in addition to members of the CVI's donor community, including President of the Kuni Foundation Angela Hult.
Attendees Tim Dellit (CEO of UW Medicine), Chris Thompson (UW Advancement), Angela Hult (President of Kuni Foundation), Becca Cheung (UW Advancement), and Bonnie Ramsey (Department of Pediatrics).
Dr. Disis speaks at the award ceremony.
“Important inventions that truly help people are never the work of one person,” Disis said, as she recognized the CVI and her colleagues in the audience. “They come from super smart people working together as a team, staying together, and following through. I’ve been so fortunate to be at the University of Washington with the Cancer Vaccine Institute and to be at a place that values teamwork and ensures that teams stay together.”
Colleagues from the CVI gather to celebrate Dr. Disis' award.
Featured at the reception was the CoMotion Innovator Showcase. CoMotion is the collaborative innovation hub dedicated to expanding the economic and societal impact of the UW community. Dr. Disis is a co-founder of the CoMotion-supported spinoff EpiThany, a tumor vaccine company. Several research teams and early startups bolstered by CoMotion presented posters and gave lightning-round pitches. Attendees then voted on which presentation was the most impactful, receiving a $1K prize.
Dr. Disis presented the award to Yingye (Cheri) Fang, a senior research scientist in UW’s Department of Bioengineering, whose team is developing a blood test to predict preeclampsia, a cardiovascular condition affecting pregnant women.
This award, along with others Dr. Disis has received, has been the culmination of over two decades of persistent work. She began investigating the immune response to cancers when many did not believe there was one. Her systematic investigation and discoveries slowly unveiled novel data and mechanisms, leading to cancer vaccines that are now in phase II clinical trials and making a meaningful difference in the lives of patients.
"The entire CVI team is so incredibly excited and proud of Nora for this recognition," said Kiran Dhillon, CVI Executive Director. "We are humbled to get to work with a scientist and leader of her caliber."
Sitting beside Dr. Disis are colleagues from the CVI and EpiThany.
Photos Credit: Jim Bennett.
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