The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today announced Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, as the recipient of the 2026 PCF Women in Science Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Taplin is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Institute Physician and Chair of the Executive Committee for Clinical Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She received the award and delivered an Award Lecture on Saturday, October 3, during the plenary session of the 33rd Annual PCF Scientific Retreat, held October 2-4, 2026, at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, California.

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Dr. Taplin receives 2026 PCF Women in Science Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Taplin receives 2026 PCF Women in Science Lifetime Achievement Award

The award recognizes women who have demonstrated extraordinary scientific achievement, leadership, and a lifelong commitment to advancing prostate cancer research and patient care. Dr. Taplin was selected through a process involving nomination by peers, the PCF Empowering Women in Science Committee, and PCF leadership.

“When prostate cancer stopped responding to hormone therapy, Dr. Taplin asked why and then spent three decades turning the answer into treatments that are now standard of care,” said Gina Carithers, PCF’s President and CEO. “Men with advanced and high-risk disease are living longer because of her work. And the investigators she has trained, including 14 PCF Young Investigators, will carry that impact for decades to come. This is exactly the kind of science PCF exists to fund, and we are proud to honor her.”

Dr. Taplin is a genitourinary oncologist and internationally recognized expert in prostate cancer whose research has centered on how prostate cancer responds and adapts to hormone therapy. In 1995, she was the first to report androgen receptor mutations in metastatic prostate cancer, a finding published in the New England Journal of Medicine that helped establish the androgen receptor as a persistent driver of disease and laid the groundwork for the next generation of therapies. She played a central role in the clinical trials that led to FDA approval of abiraterone and enzalutamide, now standard-of-care agents for advanced prostate cancer.

She also recognized the potential of neoadjuvant intensive androgen-signaling-inhibition and led a decades-long research program, from early proof-of-concept studies, culminating in the international Phase 3 PROTEUS trial, presented during the plenary session of the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, with simultaneous publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial found that adding apalutamide to androgen deprivation therapy before and after radical prostatectomy improved pathological response and metastasis-free survival for patients with high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer. In an accompanying editorial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine the results were described as “a watershed moment” for the perioperative treatment of prostate cancer. PCF has supported Dr. Taplin’s research through 16 PCF team science awards since 2008, including a 2016 PCF Challenge Award to investigate “neoadjuvant intensive androgen-signaling-inhibition,” for men with localized high-risk prostate cancer. She went on to receive a 2023 PCF Challenge Award to identify which patients remain at high risk of metastasis after “neoadjuvant intensive androgen-signaling-inhibition,” — work aimed at directing intensive treatment to the patients most likely to benefit from it.

“I am honored to receive this award,” said Dr. Taplin. “The questions I have worked on for three decades are not questions any one person answers alone. They have been answered alongside patients who enrolled in trials, colleagues and trainees who pushed the science further, and partners like PCF that were willing to fund the difficult, unglamorous work of understanding why treatments stop working. There is a great deal still to do, and I am encouraged by the next generation of researchers who will carry this work forward.”

Dr. Taplin received her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed her internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, followed by a hematology-oncology fellowship at Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She served on the faculty at the University of Massachusetts before joining Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2003. She is also recognized as an exceptional mentor and role model for women in oncology who has trained and inspired a generation of physician-scientists, including 14 PCF Young Investigator Award recipients.

The PCF Scientific Retreat is the foremost scientific conference in the world on the biology and treatment of prostate cancer, convening more than 600 researchers, clinicians, and industry leaders. This year’s program included the PCF Empowering Women in Science Forum on the morning of Friday, October 2.

“Dr. Taplin’s career is a case study in what translational research is supposed to look like, where bridging clinical questions and laboratory research ultimately leads to a new treatment,” said Andrea Miyahira, PhD, PCF’s Vice President of Global Research and Innovation. “She has also been generous with her time and her platform in ways that have shaped and advanced the careers of many women in this field, both within and beyond her institutions. That combination is exactly what this award was created to recognize.”

About the Prostate Cancer Foundation

The Prostate Cancer Foundation® (PCF®) is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has raised nearly $1.2 billion to fund cutting-edge research through more than 2,615 research projects at 312 leading cancer centers, with a global footprint spanning 29 countries. Since PCF’s inception, and through its efforts, patients around the world are living longer, suffering fewer complications, and enjoying better quality of life. PCF is committed to the mission of ending death and suffering from this disease. Learn more at pcf.org.

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