Kenneth Offit

Kenneth Offit (born February 19, 1955) is an American cancer geneticist and oncologist. He is currently Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,[1] a member of the Program in Cancer Biology and Genetics at the Sloan-Kettering Institute, and Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College.[2] He is also a member of both the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute[3] and the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention working group of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.[4] In 2016, he was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Medicine.[5] In 2018, he was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.[6]

Kenneth Offit
Born
Kenneth Offit

(1955-02-19) February 19, 1955
New York, New York,
United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materPrinceton University
Harvard Medical School
Harvard School of Public Health
Known forBRCA2 Research
Spouse(s)
Emily Sonnenblick
​
(m. 1984)​
AwardsAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology-American Cancer Society Award (2013)
Scientific career
FieldsCancer Genetics, Oncology, Medical Research
InstitutionsMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Research

In 1996, after the discovery of the BRCA2 gene, Offit and his research group successfully identified the most common mutation on the gene associated with breast and ovarian cancer among individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.[3][7][8][9] Offit's group would go on to discover or describe recurrent mutations causing increased risk for colon and prostate cancer, and, in 2013 and 2015, they described two genetic syndromes of inherited childhood lymphoblastic leukemia.[10]

Offit was honored for his contributions to the prevention and management of cancer with the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology-American Cancer Society Award and Lecture.[11][12] He is also the author of a textbook, Clinical Cancer Genetics: Risk Counseling and Management, which received an award in Medical Sciences from the Association of American Publishers.[13]

In 2018, Offit helped launch the BRCA Founder Outreach Study, which provides free testing for three mutations for all insured people over the age of 25 with at least one grandparent of Ashkenazi heritage.[14]

Life

Offit was born in New York City on February 19, 1955 to Sidney Offit and Dr. Avodah K. Offit (née Komito). Offit attended the Browning School and then Princeton University, where he was chairman of Tiger Magazine and later elected to the University Board of Trustees.[15][16] After graduating magna cum laude from Princeton in 1977, he completed both an M.D. at Harvard Medical School and an M.P.H. at the Harvard School of Public Health.[16] In 1984, Offit married Emily Sonnenblick. Sonnenblick is a radiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and the daughter of cardiologist Edmund Sonnenblick.[16] One of their daughters, Anna Offit, is an Assistant Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University.[17]

References
  1. "Kenneth Offit | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center". Mskcc.org. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  2. "Offit, Kenneth". Vivo.med.cornell.edu. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  3. "Kenneth Offit | Breast Cancer Research Foundation | BCRF". Bcrfcure.org. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  4. "EGAPP|Working Group: Members". Egappreviews.org. Archived from the original on August 6, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  5. "National Academy of Medicine Elects 79 New Members". National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  6. "2018 Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) Recognized During Annual Meeting in Chicago". The ASCO Post. June 3, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  7. "A revolution at 50; kenneth offit". The New York Times. February 25, 2003. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  8. "20 Years of Progress in Understanding Breast Cancer" (JPG). Mskcc.org. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  9. Kolata, Gina (October 2, 1996). "2d Breast Cancer Gene Found in Jewish Women". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  10. "Another Genetic Error Linked to Childhood Leukemia: MedlinePlus". Nlm.nih.gov. Archived from the original on July 16, 2015. Retrieved July 13, 2015.
  11. "Three Memorial-Sloan Kettering Researchers Receive Special Awards by the American Society of Clinical Oncology | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center". Mskcc.org. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  12. "ASCO - American Cancer Society Award and Lecture". Asco.org. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015.
  13. "Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH - DANA FARBER Master Class Courses for Oncologists". Dfcimasterclass.com. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  14. help "New study on cancer risk in Ashkenazi Jews aims to be model for genetic testing" Check |url= value (help). Times of Israel.
  15. Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton Alumni Weekly. 1976. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  16. "Dr. Emily Sonnenblick Weds in Darien". The New York Times. June 11, 1984. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  17. "Anna C. Offit". Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.