Cory Abate-Shen Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Cancer researcher Cory Abate-Shen has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Abate-Shen is professor of molecular pharmacology and therapeutics and the Robert Sonneborn Professor of Medicine, with additional appointments in the Departments of Urology and Systems Biology at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. She is also a member of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Institute for Cancer Genetics at Columbia. She is among 120 newly elected members announced by the academy on April 29, 2025.

Abate-Shen is an internationally recognized leader in genitourinary malignancies. Her innovative studies of genetically engineered mouse models for these cancers have led to the discovery of new biomarkers for early detection, as well as advances in cancer prevention and treatment. Her studies of castration-resistant prostate cancer led to the identification of lineage plasticity as a key mechanism of drug resistance, and her investigations of prostate cancer metastasis have elucidated new mechanisms of metastasis as well as potential new targets for treating bone metastasis.

In recognition of her achievements, Abate-Shen has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Sinsheimer Scholar Award, a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program, and most recently a recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Award.

Abate-Shen has served in various leadership roles in the American Association for Cancer Research, including as a member of its board of directors. She has also participated extensively in national grant review sections, including as chair of the NIH Molecular Oncology Study Section. She has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute, as well as its Blue Ribbon Panel Working Group for the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

Election to the National Academy of Sciences, which recognizes achievement in science, is one of science’s highest honors. The academy and its members, together with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, provide science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.

One other Columbia University faculty member—David R. Reichman, Centennial Professor of Chemistry—was also elected to the National Academy of Sciences this year.