Dr. Yusuf A. Hannun, second from left, was formally installed as the Joel Strum Kenny Professor in Cancer Research at a Stony Brook University Investiture Ceremony. Also pictured, from left: Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, Stony Brook University President; Shirley Strum Kenny, Past President of Stony Brook University, her husband, Robert W. Kenny; and Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President of the Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine. The Kenny Professorship honors the life and legacy of the Kenny’s son, Joel Strum Kenny, a scholar, educator and rabbi.
Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, internationally renowned cancer researcher and Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center was formally installed as the Joel Strum Kenny Professor in Cancer Research during a Stony Brook University Investiture Ceremony on March 11. He became the eighth officially invested member of Stony Brook’s endowed faculty, a distinction widely considered the highest academic honor for faculty.
The Kenny Professorship, established in 2001 by Stony Brook Past President Shirley Strum Kenny and her husband, Robert W. Kenny, honors the legacy of their son, Joel Strum Kenny, a scholar, educator and rabbi, who lost his battle against leukemia. The Professorship recognizes a world-class scholar and educator in the Department of Medicine, and an investigator in the field of cancer genetics, a burgeoning field essential to unlocking the mysteries of many forms of cancer.
Future Stony Brook cancer research underwritten by the Kenny Professorship will involve the most promising avenues of investigation in the search for the prevention of cancer and groundbreaking treatments.
“Dr. Yusuf Hannun brings a world of experience and insight as the Joel Strum Kenny Professor in Cancer Research,” said Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President of the Health Sciences and Dean of the School of Medicine. “He is a renowned physician-scientist whose research focuses on the lipid mediators of cancer cell signaling. His work has profoundly impacted cancer research, as well as research in neurobiology, inflammation and metabolism.”
Dr. Kaushansky said that under Dr. Hannun’s leadership, the Stony Brook University Cancer Center will reach new heights and create something new for Suffolk County: An internationally recognized cancer center where researchers work side-by-side with physicians to quickly transform scientific discoveries into the latest medical treatments for cancer patients. Keys to this development are Stony Brook Medicine’s establishment of the Medical and Research Translation (MART) building, now under construction, and attaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation.
In his position, Dr. Hannun will build on the Cancer Center’s existing strengths. He will expand clinical programs, more fully integrate research with clinical care, recruit new physicians and cancer investigators, spearhead facility expansion, and use his knowledge and experience to transform the Center into a basic and translational research hub.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Joel Strum Kenny Professorship in Cancer Research and am indebted to the many donors who created this endowed position,” said Dr. Hannun. “Stony Brook Medicine is undergoing a renaissance in its renewed focus on academic medicine, and we must deliver on our promise to innovate from bench to bedside.”
Dr. Hannun explained that by building on the exceptional academic and medical strengths of Stony Brook University, including imaging, informatics, genomics, applied math, computational biology, chemical biology, basic biomedical sciences, and other disciplines, Stony Brook’s multidisciplinary programs of excellence will be fortified to combat key cancers affecting millions and revolutionize care.
“All of us in the Cancer Center are committed wholly and completely to create medicines of the future that better treat and cure many forms of cancer,” Dr. Hannun added. “We embrace this challenge in a difficult time when the federal government has scaled down funding to support cutting-edge research. How wonderful it is know that our donors have the vision and generosity to make our vital work possible.”