Abramson Cancer Center Director Robert Vonderheide honored by Breast Cancer Research Foundation

Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, has been honored with the 2025 Jill Rose Award for Scientific Excellence from the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), the foundation’s highest scientific honor. The award will be presented at BCRF’s annual New York Symposium and Awards Luncheon on Oct. 30.

Vonderheide is the John H. Glick Abramson Cancer Center Professor in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has led the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) since 2017. An internationally renowned cancer immunotherapy and translational research expert, Vonderheide’s research has been supported by BCRF grants since 2007. Through a focus on novel immunotherapies for breast and other cancers, Vonderheide has mapped new models for speeding translational, or "bench to bedside" research.

Vonderheide is a leader in the field of cancer interception, which aims to catch, or intercept, cancer cells as they begin to develop into pre-cancers or very early cancers, and halt or reverse that process. His research showed it is possible for the immune system to recognize an enzyme called telomerase that’s involved in about 95 percent of human cancers. That foundational discovery was translated into an actionable interception strategy in the form of an investigational DNA vaccine that trains the recipient’s own immune system to find telomerase and destroy abnormal cells before they grow into full-fledged cancer. This cancer interception strategy was studied in a phase I clinical trial at Penn Medicine’s Basser Center for BRCA among individuals who have a high risk of developing breast cancer because they carry a BCRA gene mutation.

“We hope to alert the immune system to the very first steps when a cell changes to cancer and stop breast cancer in its tracks,” Vonderheide explained.

Vonderheide also serves as the vice dean of Cancer Programs for the Perelman School of Medicine, and vice president for Cancer Programs at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Association of Physicians, and the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research Academy. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and of the National Cancer Advisory Board Working Group on Extramural Research Concepts and Programs, and serves on the external scientific advisory boards for 10 NCI-designated cancer centers. His research has been published in high-impact journals including Science, Nature, Cancer Cell, and the New England Journal of Medicine.