Dr V. Craig Jordan, PhD, DSc, FAACR

Abstract

Dr V. Craig Jordan, PhD, DSc, FAACR, the “Father of Tamoxifen,” passed away on June 9, 2024, at 76 years of age (Figure 1).

Born in Texas, Dr Jordan grew up in England. He earned doctorates in chemistry and science from the University of Leeds. During this time, he started working with ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca) on ICI 46474, the blockbuster drug tamoxifen. Initially developed as a contraceptive, ICI 46474 was actually found to enhance fertility. Dr Jordan was the first to note its efficacy against breast cancer, and he spent 2 years at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology in Massachusetts evaluating tamoxifen as a potential treatment for breast cancer. He then returned to Leeds as a lecturer in pharmacology. After a year at the Ludwig Institute in Bern, Switzerland, he joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. In 1993, he was recruited to Northwestern University as professor of cancer pharmacology and director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. During his time at Northwestern, he was appointed as the inaugural Diana, Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research and led a successful breast cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant. In 2005, he joined the Fox Chase Cancer Center as the Alfred G. Knudson Chair of Cancer Research, and in 2009 moved to Georgetown University as professor of oncology and pharmacology and scientific director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 2014, he moved back to Texas as professor of medical oncology and molecular and cellular oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Dr Jordan’s considerable contributions to breast cancer have significantly affected the lives of many thousands of women with breast cancer and have been recognized by multiple awards, including the Medal of Honor for Basic Research from the American Cancer Society, the Charles F. Kettering Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology David A. Karnofsky Award. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. In 2002, Queen Elizabeth II made him an officer of the Order of the British Empire, and a companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 2019.

One of Dr Jordan’s greatest strengths was his ability to build teams that remain intact even through today. We were all closely mentored by Dr Jordan, and we took what we learned and applied it to one another. As an example, Dr O’Regan joined the Jordan team during her fellowship, with absolutely zero laboratory experience. Dr Jordan linked her up with Dr Tonetti, who painlessly mentored her on basic laboratory experiments throughout her time at Northwestern. He was an expert in training the mentee to become a mentor. All three of us spent our early careers as part of the Jordan “Tamoxifen Team,” and each of us is now a tenured professor at our relevant institutions. We remain in close contact and continue to collaborate on projects and clinical trials evaluating agents that can further improve outcomes for patients with estrogen receptor–positive breast cancers. We truly believe that our success would not have been possible without the incredible mentoring we were given by Dr Jordan in our early careers.

Additionally, Dr Jordan mentored many PhD candidates who went on to leadership positions in academia and pharma. He began mentoring students at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and continued at all the institutions where he was on the faculty. Many previous mentees are now professors at leading universities in the United States and Brazil. Many others are leaders or vice presidents at leading pharmaceutical companies.

Each of us benefited from a truly translational training environment in Dr Jordan’s laboratory with a mix of PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, residents, and fellows training in medical oncology and surgery. Dr Jordan understood that it was imperative for PhD students and postdocs to fully understand the breast cancer clinical landscape and the unmet needs patients with breast cancer and physicians face daily in the clinic. Conversely, the residents and fellows training in the laboratory were immersed in the scientific rigors of experimental design, data analysis, and the art of troubleshooting experiments. To maximize the translational training environment, our laboratory hosted a weekly breast cancer journal club that included not only Jordan laboratory members but also practicing radiologists, pathologists, surgeons, and medical and radiation oncologists. This exciting learning environment prepared each of us with a comprehensive understanding of breast cancer and positively influenced our career trajectories. Each of us looks back on our time as members of Dr Jordan’s Tamoxifen Team extremely fondly, and credits our successes in our current positions to this incredible training environment. Dr Jordan’s mentorship influenced the training culture we established in our own laboratories. Our current trainees understand that their breast cancer research projects cannot succeed without keeping informed about current clinical practice. Equally, Dr Jordan’s past trainees who are practicing physicians are well equipped to engage in basic research. As Tamoxifen Team members, we are incredibly grateful for our training experience in Dr V. Craig Jordan’s laboratory. He will be missed; however, his example and practice of training and guidance will live on.