The Associate Director of Population Science at the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Institute of Human Virology, UMSOM, Professor Clement Adebamowo, has been named one of the 2018 Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and will be honored at the opening session of the ASCO Annual meeting on June 2, 2018 in Chicago, IL.
ASCO is the world’s leading professional organization for physicians and oncology professionals caring for people with cancer. Almost 40,000 people attend its annual meetings which have been held in Chicago, IL for the past several years. The ASCO Fellows are awarded this prestigious award in recognition for their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to the clinical u association. Recipients have carried out efforts that benefit ASCO, the specialty of oncology, and, most importantly, the patients whom they serve. The award was previously called the “ASCO Statesman Award” and recipients add FASCO after their name.
“Dr. Adebamowo is a dedicated international researcher with a stubbornness to develop quality, international clinical research studies and training opportunities,” said Kevin Cullen, MD, Director, Marlene and Stewart Geenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“His impressive track record in cancer research in complex and challenging populations and settings truly makes him a leader in the oncology field and worthy of this special award,” remarked Jay Magaziner, PhD, MSHyg., Department Chair of Epidemiology and Public Health.
Dr. Adebamowo received his Bachelor’s degree in Surgery and Medicine with honors from the University of Jos, Nigeria and his postgraduate surgical training at the University College Hospital, lbadan, Nigeria. Upon completion of his residency training, he joined the Department of Surgery as a Lecturer 1 and was promoted Professor of Surgery at the University of lbadan, Nigeria in 2001. In 2004 he received his Sc.D. in Nutritional Epidemiology with a minor in Biostatistics from Harvard University.
During his medical training and subsequent work he received multiple travel grants and was as a Guest Scholar of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. In 2009, he joined the Institute of Human Virology, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Division of Cancer Epidemiology, and the Population Research Program of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center as an Associate Professor. In 2013 he was promoted to Professor and in 2015 he became the Associate Director of Population Science, Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dr. Adebamowo has over 200 peer reviewed publications and six active NIH grants. His scientific contributions in the area of breast cancer, research ethics, HPV infection epidemiology, vaginal microenvironment, cervical carcinogenesis, and viral genomics, are highly significant and represented in his frequently cited publications. His studies are one of the few that properly characterize the molecular subtypes of breast cancer in African populations, a critical requirement for application of modern therapeutics and prognostication. Additionally, Dr. Adebamowo is identifying barriers to cervical cancer screening and conducting research into different models of delivering HPV DNA based vaccines in low resource and under-served communities internationally.
In Nigeria, Dr. Adebamowo was the pioneer Chairman of the Nigerian National Health Research Ethics Committee (NHREC) and Director of the National System of Cancer Registries. He is President of the Society of Oncology and Cancer Research of Nigeria (SOCRON) – a society that is modeled after ASCO and is focused on training oncology health professionals in Nigeria. He is a research scientist at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria and the Center for Bioethics and Research, Ibadan, Nigeria.
“Dr. Adebamowo is an integral part of our viral cancer research team,” said IHV Director Robert Gallo, MD, Director Institute of Human Virology. “He has been laser focused on ensuring that our viral cancer research progresses from bench to bedside in both the US and Africa. I am extremely pleased that he has received this well-deserved honor.”
