George F. Vande Woude Jr. (December 25, 1935 – April 13, 2021) was an American cancer researcher, who, from 1999 to 2009,[1] served as the founding director of research at the Van Andel Institute (VAI).[2] He is credited with the 1984 discovery of MET,[3] an oncogene.[4]

George Vande Woude
Born(1935-12-25)December 25, 1935
DiedApril 13, 2021(2021-04-13) (aged 85)
Alma mater
Spouse
Dorothy Vande Woude (née Stapel)
(m. 1958; died 2016)

Personal life and education

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George Vande Woude was born in Brooklyn on December 25, 1935, the son of Alice Leudesdorff Vande Woude and George F. Vande Woude Sr.[5]

George Jr. spent his early childhood living in Queens Village, Queens. He attended Hope College for a year before enlisting in the U.S. Army; during his service he was stationed in Baumholder.[5] Following his military service, he attended Hofstra University, from where he received a Bachelor of Science degree.[6] He went on to receive a Master of Science degree in 1962 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1964, both from Rutgers University.[3] His degrees from Rutgers were in biochemistry, with minors in physical chemistry; he researched under the laboratory of Frank F. Davis.[7][8] He worked during college by driving a beer truck and operating a floor waxing business with his brother.[7]

While in Queens Village, he lived only a few blocks away from his future wife, Dorothy "Dot".[a][7] The two were married beginning on April 5, 1959, until her death in Belmont, Michigan on July 30, 2016.[10]

George died on April 13, 2021, aged 85, in Grand Rapids, Michigan,[b] following a battle with Parkinson's disease.[5]

Career

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From 1964 to 1972, he worked as a postdoctoral research associate and then a research virologist for the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.[1] He joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1972, serving as head of both the Human Tumor Studies and the Virus Tumor Biochemistry sections.[12] Vande Woude worked in Building 41 at NCI until internal restructuring moved him to the NCI's branch in Frederick, Maryland.[13][14]

His positions held within the NCI include head of the Human Tumor Studies and the Virus Tumor Biochemistry sections starting in 1972, chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology starting 1980, and from 1983 until 1998 as director of the Advanced Bioscience Laboratories–Basic Research Program at Frederick.[15]

He left the NCI to take the director position at the VAI in 1998.[16] He stepped down from his director position in 2009, but remained in leadership roles at the institute.[17]

Selected honors

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Notes

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  1. ^ In full: Dorothy Helen Vande Woude (née Stapel).[9]
  2. ^ His death place is also sometimes attributed as Belmont, Michigan.[11]
  3. ^ Service from 1981 through 1983,[18] 1984 through 1986,[19] and 1987 through 1989,[20] though he became an editor for 1988.

References

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  1. ^ a b "George F. Vande Woude, PhD". Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  2. ^ "Van Andel Institute's founding Director of Research, Dr. George Vande Woude, receives prestigious scientific award". Van Andel Institute. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "In Memoriam: George Vande Woude, Ph.D. (1935-2021)". National Cancer Institute. April 15, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  4. ^ BCRF (April 16, 2021). "BCRF Mourns Loss of Longtime Investigator Dr. George Vande Woude". Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "George F. Vande Woude Jr". Grand Rapids Press. April 14, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  6. ^ Jones, Peter A. (June 1, 2021). "George F. Vande Woude: In Memoriam (1935–2021)". Cancer Research. 81 (11): 2805–2806. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-1345. ISSN 0008-5472. S2CID 235305088.
  7. ^ a b c VandeWoude, Sue; Vousden, Karen H. (December 7, 2021). "A celebration of the life of George Vande Woude". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (49). Bibcode:2021PNAS..11817952V. doi:10.1073/pnas.2117952118. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 8670429. PMID 34845037.
  8. ^ Vande Woude, George F. "Howard L. Bachrach" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  9. ^ "Dorothy Vande Woude". Grand Rapids Press. August 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2023 – via Legacy.com.
  10. ^ "Dorothy "Dot" Helen Vande Woude". Enders & Shirley Funeral Home. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  11. ^ Wang, Linda (April 24, 2021) [Appeared in April 26, 2021 issue of Chemical & Engineering News]. "Obituary: George F. Vande Woude". Chemical & Engineering News. 99 (15). ISSN 0009-2347.
  12. ^ "In Memoriam: George F. Vande Woude". American Association for Cancer Research. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  13. ^ Enquist, Lynn W. (October 27, 2020). Sandri-Goldin, Rozanne M. (ed.). "Biographical Feature: The Long and Winding Road: My Career Path and How I Ended Up Where I Am Now". Journal of Virology. 94 (22). doi:10.1128/JVI.01625-20. ISSN 0022-538X. PMC 7592209. PMID 32907976.
  14. ^ Sherr, Charles J. (March 4, 2018). "Pastimes in Cancer Biology". Annual Review of Cancer Biology. 2 (1): 1–19. doi:10.1146/annurev-cancerbio-030617-050534. ISSN 2472-3428. S2CID 149295438.
  15. ^ "Former NCI Researcher, George Vande Woude, Receives AAAS Fellowship Award". Poster. NCI at Frederick. February 2014. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  16. ^ Garber, Ken (June 6, 2001). "Van Andel Institute Brings Cancer Research to the Heartland". Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 93 (11): 803–804. doi:10.1093/jnci/93.11.803. ISSN 0027-8874. PMID 11390525.
  17. ^ Tunison, John (April 13, 2021). "Van Andel Institute founding research director George Vande Woude dies, leaves lasting legacy". MLive. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  18. ^ "Front Matter". Journal of Virology. 37 (1). January 1981.
  19. ^ "Front Matter". Journal of Virology. 49 (1). January 1984.
  20. ^ "Front Matter". Journal of Virology. 61 (1). January 1987.
  21. ^ "Front Matter". Journal of Virology. 62 (1). January 1988.
  22. ^ "History of AACR Publishing". American Association for Cancer Research. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  23. ^ "George F. Vande Woude". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. July 27, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  24. ^ Duesbery, N. S.; Teh, B. T. (February 1, 2007). "Cancer: biology and therapeutics – A tribute to George Vande Woude". Oncogene. 26 (9): 1258–1259. doi:10.1038/sj.onc.1210257. ISSN 1476-5594. PMID 17322909. S2CID 29791302.
  25. ^ "Fellows Archives 2013". American Association for Cancer Research. p. 10. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "Science Award". Geoffrey Beene Foundation. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
  27. ^ "2015 Research!America Advocacy Awards". Research!America. March 11, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2023.