Timothy J. Eberlein, M.D., received the 2006 Dr. Rodman L. Sheen and Thomas G. Sheen Award, given each year for outstanding contributions to the medical profession. Eberlein is Bixby Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and director of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and surgeon-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Thomas Sheen, a tailor, clothier and real estate professional, created the award as a tribute to his brother Rodman Sheen, a radiologist and pioneer of Roentgen rays, or X-rays. The Sheen Award has honored 39 of the foremost members of the nation’s medical community since its beginning in 1968. The $25,000 award was presented by the Bank of America, trustee under Sheen’s will, at the annual convention of the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Dec. 2, 2006.
Previous awardees have included Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., a leader of the Human Genome Project, Judah Folkman, M.D., who established that cancer depended on new blood vessel growth, Mary-Clair King, Ph.D., who identified mutations that cause breast cancer, and Thomas Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., known as the father of modern transplantation. “I am truly honored to be included in such a distinguished group of recipients,” Eberlein says.
In a 30-year career, Eberlein has excelled as physician and scientist devoted to cancer’s treatment and cure. Eberlein is a leader in issues affecting public health, a practicing surgeon specializing in breast cancer and a researcher investigating therapy for sarcomas, melanoma, breast cancer and malignancies of the GI tract.
Eberlein was instrumental in developing the Siteman Cancer Center, which was designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute in 2005, six years after its inception. The Siteman Cancer Center is now the third-largest cancer center in the United States. It contains 12 care centers, each with unique approaches to particular cancers, and it conducts more than 350 clinical trials that seek improved cancer treatments.
In 2004, Eberlein was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors medical scientists in the United States can receive. He is currently a senior director of the American Board of Surgery and is past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology and the Society of Surgical Chairs.
As a research scientist, Eberlein has special interest in the potential to use the immune system to fight cancer. His research projects investigate the antigens associated with cancer cells and how the immune system interacts with tumors. Eberlein and colleagues are working to develop vaccines against breast cancer.
Born in 1951 in Pennsylvania, Eberlein earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He was trained in surgery at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, serving as chief resident. Later he completed research and clinical fellowships at the National Cancer Institute.
Prior to joining Washington University in 1998, Eberlein served as the Richard E. Wilson Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology and vice chairman for research in the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, Eberlein is listed in the Best Doctors in America and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including Fellowship in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (Glasgow). Eberlein has published more than 300 research articles and reviews and contributed to many textbooks and monographs.
Eberlein resides in St. Louis, Mo., with his wife, Kim, and their son, Justin.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
Siteman Cancer Center is the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center within a 240-mile radius of St. Louis. Siteman Cancer Center is composed of the combined cancer research and treatment programs of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.