Dr. Jashodeep Datta Recognized with Prestigious Award from the American College of Surgeons
Article Summary
- Dr. Jashodeep Datta received the Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award, a first for the Miller School.
- Dr. Datta specializes in operating on patients with pancreatic and liver cancers.
- Dr. Datta will use the award proceeds to fund the exploration of high-risk, high-reward questions in his lab.
Surgical oncologist and cancer researcher Jashodeep Datta, M.D., is the recipient of a high honor from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson II Promising Investigator Award.
The award recognizes outstanding surgeons who are engaged in research and advancing the art and science of surgery, and have shown early promise of significant contributions to the practice of surgery and the safety of surgical patients. The award is given to surgeon-scientists at a “tipping point” in their scientific trajectory.
It is the first time the prestigious award has been given to a surgeon from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
“I’m proud of the visibility this will bring to our department and school of medicine,” said Dr. Datta, an associate professor of surgery in the Miller School’s DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery, as well as the DiMare Family Endowed Chair in Immunotherapy.
Dr. Datta specializes in operating on patients with pancreatic and liver cancers and leads a research lab at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he studies the intersection between the immune system and therapeutic resistance in pancreatic cancer. At Sylvester, part of the Miller School, Dr. Datta co-leads the Gastrointestinal Site Disease Group and is the associate director of translational research at the Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute.
“This is the highest award that the ACS can give to a promising young investigator,” said Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School. “Dr. Datta is truly deserving of this honor and we are proud to have him on our team.”
Supporting Surgical Investigators
Dr. Datta credits his research team, Sylvester Director and Miller School Executive Dean for Research Stephen Nimer, M.D., and Nipun Merchant, M.D., professor of surgery in the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery and division chief of surgical oncology at the Miller School and director of Surgical Oncology Research Programs at Sylvester, for providing him a platform to blend the worlds of clinical surgery and basic/translational cancer research with supporting his growth as a surgical oncologist and scientist.
He credited Dean Ford for fostering an environment that champions surgical investigators.
“He has created a culture where we are aiming to be preeminent academically, going from great to elite,” said Dr. Datta.
Dean Ford was the 2024 president of the ACS.
Between the Bedside and the Bench
The new award builds on previous recent accolades for Dr. Datta.
In March, Dr. Datta received the Young Physician-Scientist Award from the American Society for Clinical Investigation. And he recently secured a $2.5 million National Cancer Institute R37 MERIT grant, which recognizes investigators “whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior.”
The MERIT award and an earlier grant this year from The V foundation will fund studies examining the biology of immune factors in pancreatic cancer. The research has the potential to lead to new clinical trials.
“What I do in the operating room has a very close relationship with what I do on the academic side,” said Dr. Datta. “I derive meaningful questions from the patient’s bedside and bring them back and study them deeply at the bench. Then I bring it back to the patient’s bedside.”
The Jacobson award comes with a $30,000 check which Dr. Datta will use to fund “high-risk, high-reward” questions in his lab, he said. He was also honored at a lunch and formal award presentation at the 2024 ACS Clinical Congress earlier this month in San Francisco.
Many of the former awardees have gone on to become internationally prominent scientists and department heads leading large research programs.
“Dr. Datta is truly a rising star in our department and in the field of surgical oncology, and I am excited to see the innovative advances he brings forth to benefit our patients,” said Laurence Sands, M.D., M.B.A, chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, chair of the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery and the Laurence R. Sands Endowed Chair in Colon and Rectal Surgery at the Miller School.
Tags: cancer research, Dean Henri Ford, Dr. Jashodeep Datta, Dr. Laurence Sands, Dr. Stephen Nimer, pancreatic cancer, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute