AACR Congratulates Past President Dr. Carlos Arteaga on Appointment as Director of Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern

The American ​Association for Cancer Research (AACR) congratulates Past President Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, FAACR, on his appointment as director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Arteaga served as president of the AACR from 2014 to 2015 and is a fellow of the AACR Academy.

“On behalf of the American Association for Cancer Research, I wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Past President Carlos Arteaga,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Dr. Arteaga is an esteemed expert in breast cancer research and his contributions to the field have had a major impact on the lives of patients. His scientific expertise, visionary leadership, and dedication to the translation of basic scientific knowledge to the clinic will be invaluable to UT Southwestern Medical Center as it works to achieve its mission and future goals.”

Arteaga is currently the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer Research, director of the Center for Cancer Targeted Therapies, director of the Breast Cancer Program, and associate director for Clinical Research at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also co-director of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

His new role is effective Sept. 1. He will also serve as associate dean for the Oncology Program at UT Southwestern Medical School and hold the Lisa K. Simmons Distinguished Chair in Comprehensive Oncology at UT Southwestern.

Arteaga is known for his research discoveries that have deepened our understanding of the key molecular pathways involved in breast cancer initiation, progression, and metastasis. He was the first to report the role of IGF-1 receptors and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) in breast cancer and their use as therapeutic targets. More recently, his translational research efforts have focused on presurgical and neoadjuvant trials to discover biomarkers that inform patient selection in clinical trials and to discover mechanisms of drug resistance.

As AACR President, Arteaga initiated the NextGen Grants for Transformative Cancer Research, the AACR’s flagship funding opportunity for early-career investigators. He was motivated by the funding crisis that looms over scientific research, which tends to particularly affect early-career researchers, and the grants promote and support junior faculty conducting creative, paradigm-shifting cancer research that might not otherwise be funded through conventional sources.

Arteaga has been an active member of the AACR since 1989. In addition to his service as president, he was a member of the board of directors from 2004 to 2007 and recently served as a co-chair of the 2017 AACR International Conference on Translational Cancer Medicine. He is a scientific editor for Cancer Discovery, member of the Pezcoller Foundation-AACR International Award for Cancer Research Committee, member of the Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research Committee, member of the Stand Up To Cancer Canada Scientific Advisory Committee, and a trustee of the AACR Foundation. He was a deputy editor of Clinical Cancer Research (2005-2013) and editorial board member for Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (2002-2012), as well as a past member of many additional awards, organizational, and conference program committees.

His work has been recognized with myriad honors and awards, including the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, the Prize for Scientific Excellence in Medicine from the American-Italian Cancer Foundation, the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Basic Science from Susan G. Komen, the Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Clinical Investigator Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Additionally, he is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.

Arteaga received his medical degree in 1980 from the Facultad de Ciencias Médicas at the Universidad de Guayaquil in Ecuador. Following an internal medicine residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Arteaga completed a fellowship in medical oncology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University in 1989.