Read the full story, published by the Geisel School of Medicine.

Steven Leach, director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center and the Preston T. and Virginia R. Kelsey Distinguished Chair in Cancer at the Geisel School of Medicine, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

Leach, a nationally recognized leader in pancreatic cancer research, is the leader of Northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, overseeing a nationally recognized program that combines advanced cancer research at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine with patient-centered cancer care provided across the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the AAAS for my research in the initiation and progression of pancreatic cancer,” says Leach. “My research has run the gamut from very basic studies of pancreatic development using mouse and zebrafish, to our more recent studies of human pancreatic cancer and how pancreatic cancer mutations engage the host immune system. All of this work has been driven by my intrinsic love of biology and deep gratitude to all the tremendous teachers, colleagues, and students that I’ve encountered along the way. I greatly appreciate the acknowledgment by the AAAS for this ongoing work, which is ultimately aimed at improving survival for pancreatic cancer patients.”