04 FN: Vincent T. DeVita Jr.

Vincent T. DeVita Jr., M.D., the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, and professor of epidemiology and public health, was named a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Academy Class of 2014. DeVita is one of 38 internationally renowned cancer scientists inducted during the AACR’s annual meeting in San Diego in April. The AACR Academy recognizes and honors scientists whose scientific contributions have led to significant innovation and progress against cancer. DeVita’s work has contributed significantly to the scientific understanding of cancer’s immense complexities. While at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), DeVita developed combination chemotherapy programs that led to an effective regimen of curative chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s disease and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. Along with colleagues at the NCI, he developed the four-drug combination, known by the acronym MOPP, which increased the cure-rate for patients with advanced Hodgkin’s disease from 0 to over 70 percent. DeVita and his colleagues played a major role in the development of similar treatments for other lymphomas, and cancers of the ovary and breast.