Cancer Research Institute Suggests Cancer Cure Could Come

This post was originally produced for Forbes.

Jill O’Donnell-Tormey is the CEO and director of scientific affairs for the Cancer Research Institute, which focuses its research budget on promising cancer immunotherapy research.

In recent years, new drugs like Yervoy, Opdivo and Keytruda have some people talking about “curing” cancer–and it isn’t just the patients.

“As a scientist, I have been reluctant in the past to use the word “cure” when it comes to cancer, but the durable remissions we are now seeing in some previously untreatable patients gives me and many others great hope that we will, in fact, one day eliminate cancer deaths and effectively cure this disease,” O’Donnell-Tormey says.

“The immune system plays an important role in cancer development and control, and we’re learning through scientific research how the two are related, with the end result being new ways to treat and in some cases prevent cancer with drugs that augment and direct the body’s inherent defenses,” she concludes.

On Friday, January 9, 2015 at 4:00 Eastern, O’Donnell-Tormey will join me for a live discussion about this promising field of research that could lead to a cancer cure. Tune in here then to watch the interview live.

More about the Cancer Research Institute:

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world’s only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immune system-based strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat, and eventually cure all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes three Nobel laureates and 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested $282 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment.

CRI is currently seeking riders to participate in its 150+ mile Ride to Conquer Cancer, taking place next June in the New York City metro area. The Ride promises to be an important source of renewable funding to support CRI’s research and education programs. Interested riders can register at www.ridetovictory.org/ny.

O’Donnell-Tormey’s bio:

Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., is chief executive officer and director of scientific affairs of the Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 that is today the global leader in supporting and coordinating research aimed at harnessing the immune system’s power to conquer all cancers. She joined the organization in 1987 as director of scientific affairs, and has been chief executive since 1993.

Prior to joining CRI, she served as a research associate in the department of medicine at Cornell University Medical College and as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of cellular physiology and immunology at The Rockefeller University.

She serves on the boards of CT Atlantic AG, a Swiss biotechnology company focused on the research and development of novel, human-derived antibodies for the treatment of cancer; Richmond University Medical Center; and the Staten Island Foundation. In 1998, she was named one of Irish America magazine’s “Top 100” Irish Americans, and in 2002 she received the Fairleigh Dickinson University Pinnacle Award, the highest honor bestowed on its alumni. She received the Cancer Research Institute’s 2013 Frederick W. Alt Award for New Discoveries in Immunology, which the Institute awards to formerly funded postdoctoral fellows who make significant contributions to immunology research.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and a doctor of philosophy in cell biology from The State University of New York’s Downstate Medical Center.

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