Susan Bates Receives College of Medicine Alumnus Award
| Sept. 30, 2011 | UAMS alumnus Susan Bates, M.D., an oncologist at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, is the 2011 recipient of the UAMS College of Medicine Dean’s Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Laura Hutchins, Susan Bates and Debra Fiser at the Dean’s Distinguished Alumnus Award ceremony.
Bates received the award Aug. 26 during the college’s Alumni Weekend and was recognized for a career that has been dedicated to moving promising new cancer therapies from the laboratory to the patient. Her work has focused on overcoming drug resistance and making existing cancer drugs work better.
Presented by College of Medicine Dean Debra H. Fiser, M.D., the award states that it was made, “In grateful recognition of (Bates’) exemplary achievements as a physician, researcher and scientific mentor; her integral role in improving the lives of cancer patients through her leadership and groundbreaking investigations at the National Cancer Institute; her dedication to the vital concept of ‘bench to bedside’ translational research; her devotion to the art and science of medicine; and her commitment to the UAMS College of Medicine.”
Bates graduated from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1978 and stayed to complete an internship and residency in internal medicine. She continued her training as a senior resident in internal medicine at Georgetown University before joining the NCI in 1981. She held a number of clinical and research fellowships and then moved up through the ranks of NCI and the Public Health Service until 1995, when she was appointed to her current post as head of the Molecular Therapeutics Section in the Medical Oncology Branch.
The Dean’s Distinguished Alumnus award was established in 1973 to recognize outstanding graduates who have made major contributions to the health of all people in areas such as patient care, research, health services administration and leadership. Bates was nominated for the award by UAMS’ Laura Hutchins, M.D., a hematologist-oncologist.
“Dr. Bates’ team of researchers and clinicians has made remarkable progress in many areas, but there are two dates on her calendar that have truly earned gold stars: Nov. 5, 2009, and June 16, 2011,” Fiser said. “Those are the dates that the FDA approved the use of the drug romidepsin for the treatment of two forms of devastating T-cell lymphomas.”
The first approval was for its use in patients with Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma. CTCL is a disfiguring, debilitating and ultimately life-threatening disease. The second FDA approval, this summer, was for use of the drug in Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma, a disease with a median life expectancy of less than two years from diagnosis. For thousands of patients with aggressive forms of these lymphomas, Bates’ work has offered new hope.
“Her role was instrumental and truly bench-to-bedside,” Fiser said. “First, Dr. Bates’ laboratory initiated the mechanism of action studies for the drug over a decade ago, fleshing out the underlying workings of a new class of anti-cancer compounds. Her work, in collaboration with the NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program, continued through all phases of clinical trials, licensing to Gloucester Pharmaceuticals and collection of data supporting the FDA approval process. She designed and led an international clinical study involving more than 20 research centers, including UAMS.”
Bates and her team have received many commendations for their work, including both the NIH and NCI Directors Awards in 2010.