Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Swanlund Chair, Center for Advanced Study Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology


The Maybelle Swanlund Endowed Chair greatly aided Dr. Benita Katzenellenbogen’s research and scholarly activities by enabling her laboratory to initiate new genomic approaches in cancer research. This would not have been possible without the funds to purchase expensive biotechnology supplies and equipment.

This gift enabled Katzenellenbogen, an internationally known endocrinologist and cancer researcher who directs a breast cancer research group at the U of I, and her students to answer crucial questions regarding cellular and hormonal regulation in cancer. The students in her research group also benefited from this gift because it allowed them to progress at a rapid rate with more sophisticated equipment and approaches.

A key scientist in understanding the biology of estrogen receptors, Katzenellenbogen and her research group have been involved in the development of selective hormonal agents for breast cancer treatment and prevention. The work of her and her team was a 2008-09 Breast Cancer Research Foundation project. Building upon their recent findings, Katzenellenbogen and her research team continue to investigate the role of estrogen receptor action, both in the nucleus and outside of the nucleus, in regulating the proliferation and aggressiveness of breast cancers.

Since joining the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1971, she has published over 250 research articles, has contributed 30 chapters in books, and has co-edited a text on hormone-dependent cancers. She is the recipient of numerous awards, honors and special fellowships from governmental, private and academic institutions,  including the MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, the Jill Rose Award for outstanding research from The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Ernst Oppenheimer Award and Roy O. Greep Lecture Award of The Endocrine Society, the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the National Scholar Award from the American Association of University Women.

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and recently served as President of The Endocrine Society, the world's largest professional society representing approximately 10,000 endocrinologists. She has been active on government scientific review panels of the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society, and has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. She directs an active research unit that has trained over 70 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists, many of whom are leading distinguished careers in academia, governmental agencies, and the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry.