Mary-Claire King, PhD, will receive the William L. McGuire Memorial Lecture Award at the 2020 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) Dec. 8-12.

The McGuire Award was established in 1992 to commemorate McGuire’s significant contributions to breast oncology. McGuire, along with Charles A. Coltman, MD, founded SABCS in 1977.

King, American Cancer Society Professor of Genome Sciences and Medical Genetics at the University of Washington in Seattle, is being recognized for her groundbreaking research in genetics, including the discovery that the BRCA1 gene harbors mutations causing hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. King will discuss the genetics of inherited breast cancer.

“It’s a terrific honor to be recognized with the Bill McGuire Award,” King said. “From the 1970s on, Bill McGuire was my hero in breast cancer research. His encouragement of me, a young kid coming to breast cancer research out of left field (mathematical biology) was so important when I began this work. He respected the idea of genetic predisposition to breast cancer. He was critical and thoughtful and constructive. For him to pay attention to my work gave me courage. I thank very much his next-generation colleagues for an award that will link my work forever to his name.”

King has received many scientific awards and honors, including election to the National Academy of Medicine (1994), the National Academy of Sciences (2005), the Lasker Award for Biomedical Research (2014), and the National Medal of Science (2016). She was the SABCS Distinguished Lecturer in Breast Cancer Research in 2014.

“We are thrilled to be able to recognize the outstanding contributions of Dr. King to breast cancer genetics, prevention, and care, and the impact she has had on many with or at risk of the disease,” said SABCS co-director Carlos L. Arteaga, MD.