Dr. Bast has written more than 640 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has edited 12 books.
HOUSTON, TX, June 18, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Robert Bast, MD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Bast celebrates many years of experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
With more than 40 years of professional experience, Dr. Bast has been the vice president for translational research with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center since 2000, having headed the Center's division of medicine from 1994 to 2000. Since 2004, he has been recognized as the Henry Carothers Wiess Distinguished University Chair. Prior to joining MD Anderson, Dr. Bast served as director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center from 1987-1994, after leading their clinical research programs from 1984-1987. At Duke, he was co-director of the division of hematology-oncology, professor of medicine, and the Wellcome Clinical Professor in honor of R. Wayne Rundles. Dr. Bast had been recruited to Duke from Harvard Medical School where he had served as an associate professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 1983-1984, having been an assistant professor of medicine from 1977 to 1983.
Dr. Bast was introduced to science and medicine in high school, working in research laboratories at the Washington DC Veterans Administration Hospital. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, and went on to study at Harvard Medical School, earning a Doctor of Medicine, magna cum laude, in 1971. During medical school, he spent two years as a pre-doctoral fellow in pathology and immunology research at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1967 to 1969. After completing an internship in medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1971-1972, he joined the United States Public Health Service, serving in the Biology Branch at the National Cancer Institute where he was a research associate from 1972 to 1975. From 1975 to 1976, Dr. Bast was an assistant resident in medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital. During 1976-1977, he completed a fellowship in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute before joining the faculty at Harvard. He is licensed to practice medicine in the states of Texas and North Carolina, and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in hematology, medical oncology and internal medicine. Dr. Bast continues to care for patients with breast and gynecologic cancers.
Dr. Bast is best known for discovery of CA125, a serum biomarker for ovarian cancer that has contributed to the care of hundreds of thousands of women worldwide and promises to provide the first successful screening strategy for the disease. Over the last four decades his laboratory has identified several other blood tests that could contribute to early detection of ovarian cancer including autoantibodies that patients develop against the mutant TP53 protein in their ovarian cancer cells. His group has contributed to understanding the cellular and molecular biology of ovarian and breast cancer, discovering DIRAS3 (ARHI) that induces autophagy and tumor dormancy, and SIK2 kinase that regulates cancer cell division and sensitivity to the widely used drug paclitaxel. His research has been supported continuously by grants and contracts from the National Cancer Institute for more than 40 years.
Dr. Bast has written more than 640 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has edited 12 books including Holland-Frei's Cancer Medicine, a major oncology text. He has lectured at numerous conferences, symposia and institutions in his areas of expertise, and was named Shashikant Lele lecturer, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Trope Kalstad lecturer, Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway, David B. Kaner Memorial lecturer, Dartmouth Medical School, American Cancer Society lecturer, Society for Gynecologic Oncology, Richard W. TeLinde lecturer, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, J.G Moore lecturer, UCLA, George Willbanks lecturer, U South Florida, Alan Dembo Memorial Keynote lecturer, International Gynecologic Cancer Society, Robert C. Knapp lecturer, Harvard Medical School, Barbara Moore Jordan lecturer, Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, Arnold O. Beckman lecturer, American Association Clinical Chemistry, Stolte Memorial lecturer, Free Hospital of Amsterdam, D. Nelson Henderson lecturer, University of Toronto, John Ohtani Memorial lecturer, and the Edward G. Waters Memorial lecturer.
A leader in health care, Dr. Bast was a member and chair of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. He has served on three study sections of the National Cancer Institute, as well as scientific advisory committees of 12 NCI designated US Cancer Centers, the Cancer Center Karolinska, the Deutsche Krebshilfe and the Berlin Institute of Health. He has served as a chair of the tumor markers expert panel of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the scientific advisory boards of the V Foundation and Ovarian Cancer Action in the United Kingdom. Dr. Bast also serves on scientific advisory committees for the TJ Martell Foundation and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance.
A respected voice in the field, Dr. Bast is affiliated with numerous professional organizations in his areas of interest. He has been recognized as a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American College of Physicians. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation, Association of American Physicians, American Association for Cancer Research, Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, the International Gynecological Cancer Society, and the American Clinical and Climatological Association.
Throughout his career, Dr. Bast has been recognized with numerous honors and accolades for his achievements, having been named among America's Top Oncologists, America's Top Doctors, America's Top Physicians, and one of the Best Doctors in America. He has received the Giants of Cancer Care award, Ovarcome Pioneer award, Society for Gynecologic Oncology Innovator award, Gynecological Cancer Foundation Claudia Cohen award, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Rosalind Franklin award, NCI Specialized Program of Excellence Outstanding Leadership award, International Gynecologic Cancer Society Award for Excellence in Gynecologic Oncology, International Society Oncodevelopmental Biology & Markers-Abbott award, Clinical Ligand Society-Smith Kline Beecham Clinical Laboratories award, Outstanding Leadership and Advocacy award from the National Coalition Cancer Research, Robert C. Knapp award from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dominus award, Leukemia Society of America Scholar award and the Henry Asbury Christian award from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Bast credits much of his success to hard work and the good fortune to have had great mentors and colleagues. He is particularly proud of the young people he has helped to train. He has mentored more than 80 students, fellows and visiting scientists in his laboratory and has led the physician-scientist and K12 clinician-investigator programs at MD Anderson that have included 72 of the most outstanding members of the junior faculty. He has developed graduate and post-graduate courses and programs in translational cancer research and cancer research administration. Outside of work, Dr. Bast enjoys his family, travel, photography, opera, classical music and art history.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Robert Bast, MD, has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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