Mina Bissell, distinguished senior scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division, is one of five recipients of the 2020 Canada Gairdner International Award – an annual honor given to scientists who have contributed to transformative human health research.
Bissell was recognized for helping to shift the paradigm in the understanding of cancer by showing that both malignant and normal cells are engaged in a continuous, two-way interaction with their microenvironment within the body. Her pioneering work on this phenomenon, called “dynamic reciprocity,” revealed that tumor cells grown in cultures or otherwise isolated in a lab do not behave the same way they would in a patient.
Read more in the Berkeley Lab News Center. The entire Gairdner Foundation award announcement can be found here.
