Klauber-DeMore recognized for spirit of academic innovation in cancer research

In recognition of her spirit of innovation and the lasting impact of her work on cancer patients, Nancy Klauber-DeMore, M.D., has been named as a 2020 fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the organization announced today.

Induction into the NAI fellows program is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic innovators. The program was established to highlight inventors who have created or facilitated outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

Klauber-DeMore joins a class that represents 115 research universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutes worldwide. To be eligible, awardees must have made outstanding contributions in areas such as patents, licensing, innovative discovery, technology or the enhancement of innovation and must be named as the inventor on patent(s) issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“As a physician-scientist, my ultimate goal is to take discoveries of novel cancer targets from human tumors all the way to development of a drug to treat the patient’s disease,” said Klauber-DeMore. “It is an honor to have this work recognized by NAI.”

The Professor of Surgery and BMW Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at the Medical University of South Carolina, Klauber-DeMore has extensive research experience in developing new therapies for breast cancer that have led to clinical advances in patient care, particularly for those with metastatic disease. She has been a principal or co-investigator on more than 30 active and completed clinical trials and has contributed to five patents or patents pending. She is also developing novel surgical devices to aid in breast surgery.

Her lab focuses on discovering novel factors that stimulate the growth of new capillary blood vessels that provide tumors with oxygen and nutrients with a goal of developing new drugs to block these factors, therefore inhibiting tumor growth. She has also played an integral role as a surgeon in the evaluation of surgical clinical trials as well as clinical trials evaluating the role of natural products in cancer treatment.