Mark Scott Awarded the Elsevier and Institut Cochin Innovation Award 2019

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Jul 02, 2019, 04:01 ET

PARIS, July 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institut Cochin, Paris Descartes Foundation and Elsevier, the information analytics business specializing in science and health, today awarded Mark Scott the third Elsevier-Institut Cochin Innovation prize for his work on the development of chemical modulators of tumor suppressor PTEN. Frédéric Dardel, the President of Paris Descartes University, presented the award, which symbolizes the commitments of Elsevier to the Paris-Descartes Foundation, in the support of French research and scientific innovation.

Paris Descartes Foundation logo

"Congratulations to Mark Scott for this award, we are very pleased with the support of Elsevier to be able to jointly recognize the excellent work of researchers at the Institut Cochin contributing to concrete steps progressing the treatment of cancer and therefore making a significant contribution to improving public health," said Frédéric Dardel.

The tumor suppressor protein PTEN inhibits the proliferation and migration of cells, two properties of cancer cells permitting their amplification and dissemination. The function of PTEN is frequently diminished in human cancers. PTEN acts a "brake" on a cellular communication pathway driven by two oncogenic proteins called PI3K/AKT that is often overactivated in cancer. The design of small molecules to inhibit these oncogenic proteins has provided the main approach for the development of anti-cancer therapeutics targeting this pathway. Over 50 drugs inhibiting this pathway are in development, and many clinical trials are ongoing, with several drugs now approved for clinical use. However, using small molecules to re-activate tumor suppressors like PTEN, has been much less explored as a potential anti-cancer approach. The project of Dr. Scott's research group is therefore aimed at investigating this possibility, which may in the longer term offer future therapeutic opportunities.

"We are very pleased with our cooperation with the Paris Descartes Foundation to jointly recognize excellent research with a positive impact on society," said William Rubens, Director Research Solutions Southern Europe, Elsevier. "We are committed to making excellent research visible and in this context, I want to congratulate Dr. Mark Scott for receiving this award."

The Elsevier-Institut Cochin's Innovation Awards are part of the Institut Cochin's Proof-of-Concept program, which each year encourages researchers whose work has proven its possible application as therapeutic innovation, in order to help improving them for future transfer.

Since 2017, the Paris-Descartes Foundation and Elsevier are collaborating to acknowledge scientific achievements and to recognize innovation in research and teaching in France. Elsevier and Paris-Descartes Foundation plan to announce new projects as part of their partnership later this year.

About Paris-Descartes Foundation

The Paris Descartes Foundation supports and enhances the societal impact of Paris Descartes University. Producing and transferring science for the improvement of health, society and the economy: such is the mission of Paris Descartes' professors and researchers. Our pioneering, multidisciplinary teams work together to find innovative solutions that will transform the world for generations to come. We aim to go faster, farther, and to make science and care accessible to as many as possible in France and Beyond. Through five impact areas, we aim to:

Understand diseases and find cures
Promote physical, mental, social well-being and more inclusive society.
Support changes induced by the evolution of science and technology.
Power the economy through knowledge, innovation and transfer.
Protect, promote and transmit our exceptional scientific heritage.

About Institut Cochin

The Institut Cochin is one of the largest biomedical research centers in France with about 650 members. Research at the institute aims to understand biological mechanisms in physiological and pathophysiological situations, for applications to the benefit of public health. The location of Institut Cochin inside the Paris University Hospital Center (Cochin and Port-Royal sites) allows strong interactions between research teams and the clinical services. This contributes to speed up innovation and medical applications to numerous human diseases including infectious diseases, cancers, developmental disorders, diabetes, autoimmunity. The Technology Transfer office of the institute actively accompanies the scientists willing to translate their innovative results into industrial or clinical development. The Institut Cochin has an active policy for direct funding pre-maturation of upstream projects with a strong transfer potential (its Proof-of-Concept program) and for attracting pharmaceutical industries by regular presentations and B-to-B meetings. The Institut Cochin is affiliated to Paris Descartes University, CNRS and Inserm. www.institutcochin.fr

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians to find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, we have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, we're committed to bringing that rigor to a new generation of platforms. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, SciVal, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, 39,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. www.elsevier.com