The 2024 NIH Director’s Awards

The 2024 NIH Director’s Awards recognize exceptional contributions to biomedical research, honoring scientists and staff who have significantly advanced the mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

The NIH Director’s Awards aim to foster innovative research that addresses critical health challenges, supporting scientists who demonstrate creativity and a commitment to advancing medical knowledge. The awards are part of NIH’s broader strategy to encourage high-risk, high-reward research that can lead to transformative breakthroughs in healthcare.

Recently, The NIH Director’s Awardees were announced.

On this occasion, NCI Center for Cancer Research shared a post on LinkedIn:

“We are pleased to share that several of our colleagues received a 2024 NIH Director’s Award for their achievements over the past year.

The NIH Director’s Awards recognize exceptional performance and special efforts that reflect honorees’ commitments to supporting scientific advances that enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability. We very much appreciate their contributions to the mission of CCR.

Congratulations to all recipients!”

Here is the list of awardees:

Individual Awards:

• Li Gwatkin, M.P.A. – Administrative Award

Li Gwatkin, Communications Manager at the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research, previously served as Senior Consultant at SRI International. In this role, she advised on marketing strategies, message development, and stakeholder outreach to effectively promote and share the Center’s research findings.

• Eytan Ruppin, M.D., Ph.D. – Scientific/Medical Research Award

Eytan Ruppin is the Chief of the Cancer Data Science Lab (CDSL) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also held a professorship at Tel Aviv University.

• Glenn Merlino, Ph.D. – Mentoring Award

Glenn Merlino, Ph.D., is an NIH Scientist Emeritus in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute. His areas of expertise include cancer signaling pathways, melanoma and skin cancer, genetically engineered mice, preclinical mouse models, cancer metastasis, UV-induced tumorigenesis, and HGF-MET signaling.

• Killian E. Salerno, M.D. – Scientific/Medical Clinical Care Award

Killian E. Salerno, M.D., is an Associate Research Physician in the Radiation Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

As a radiation oncologist, her clinical and research interests focus on sarcomas, rare tumors, breast, and gastrointestinal cancers. Dr. Salerno is an expert in treating soft tissue sarcomas and is actively involved in designing clinical trials to optimize advanced radiation therapy, enhance patient outcomes, and reduce treatment-related toxicities.

• Arun Rajan, M.D. – Scientific/Medical Clinical Care Award

Arun Rajan, M.D., is a Senior Clinician in the Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Malignancies Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). His clinical research focuses on developing novel therapies for patients with lung cancer and thymic malignancies.

• Ramaprasad Srinivasan, M.D., Ph.D. – The Alan S. Rabson Award for Clinical Care

Ramaprasad Srinivasan, M.D., Ph.D., is a Senior Investigator and Head of the Molecular Cancer Therapeutics Section in the Urologic Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

He also serves as Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Research (CCR). Dr. Srinivasan is focused on developing precision-targeted therapies and clinical trials for patients with both hereditary and non-hereditary forms of kidney cancer.

Group Awards:

• NIH Transplant and Cell Therapy Clinical Program Leadership Team: Sung-Yun Pai, M.D.
• NIH Industry Day Planning Committee: John T. Schiller, Ph.D.
• NIH COVID-19 Autopsy Team: Multiple CCR members

More posts featuring NCI.