Dr Sam Behjati wins Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award

Congratulations to Sanger Institute cancer researcher, Dr Sam Behjati, who has been recognised for his work in sarcoma cancer genomics

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Dr Sam Behjati has received this year’s Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award, given by the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS). The Award highlights Dr Behjati’s internationally recognised, outstanding contributions as an early-career researcher working in the sarcoma field.

Sarcomas are rare cancers that affect bone and soft tissue, including muscle, tendons and blood vessels. Over 5,000 people are diagnosed with sarcoma every year in the UK alone*.

Dr Behjati’s work has focused on the basic cancer genomics of human sarcoma, helping to understand the genetic events that give rise to bone and cartilage diseases such as osteoblastoma, osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma.

To recognise Dr Behjati’s outstanding contributions to sarcoma research, he was awarded the Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award by CTOS after being nominated by two Wellcome Sanger Institute colleagues, Dr Peter Campbell and Dr Sarah Teichmann, as well as a colleague from the UCL Cancer Institute, Professor Adrienne Flanagan.

The Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award was created in 2017 by the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, whose mission is to promote sarcoma awareness, fund research, and support patients and their loved ones. It is named after Elizabeth (Liddy) Shriver, who was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma in 2002, succumbing to the disease in 2004. She was 37-years old.

The Award aims to engender dialogue and collaboration between recipients and their colleagues from around the world. As the recipient of this year’s Award, Dr Behjati was invited to give a lecture at the CTOS Annual Meeting, reflecting his anticipated future research in the field of sarcoma. He will also receive 50,000 USD to fund further research into sarcomas.

“It is a privilege and honour to receive the Liddy Shriver Early Career Research Award. I am most grateful to my brilliant colleagues and collaborators who have supported my work over the years. It is only by working together that we will be able to improve outcomes for those affected by sarcomas.”

Dr Sam Behjati Wellcome Sanger Institute

“CTOS is proud to honour the contributions of Bruce and Beverly Shriver to those affected by sarcomas, through offering the prestigious Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Award each year to an outstanding early career researcher. We are delighted to announce that the 2019 recipient is Dr Sam Behjati.”

Connective Tissue Oncology Society

The Award was announced on 16 November at the CTOS Annual Meeting 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.

More information

*For more information on sarcoma, see the Sarcoma UK website: https://sarcoma.org.uk/about-sarcoma/understanding-sarcoma-0

Selected websites

  • Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS)

    The Connective Tissue Oncology Society was formed in 1995 and incorporated in 1997. CTOS is an international group comprised of physicians and scientists with a primary interest in the tumors of connective tissues. The goal of the society is to advance the care of patients with connective tissue tumors and to increase knowledge of all aspects of the biology of these tumors, including basic and clinical research. https://www.ctos.org/About/ConnectiveTissueOncologySociety.aspx

  • Wellcome Sanger Institute

    The Wellcome Sanger Institute is a world leading genomics research centre. We undertake large-scale research that forms the foundations of knowledge in biology and medicine. We are open and collaborative; our data, results, tools and technologies are shared across the globe to advance science. Our ambition is vast – we take on projects that are not possible anywhere else. We use the power of genome sequencing to understand and harness the information in DNA. Funded by Wellcome, we have the freedom and support to push the boundaries of genomics. Our findings are used to improve health and to understand life on Earth. Find out more at www.sanger.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and on our Blog.

  • About Wellcome

    Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research. We are a politically and financially independent foundation. https://wellcome.org/