Dr. John Minna, director of the W.A. 'Tex' and Deborah Moncrief Jr. Center for Cancer Genetics and the Nancy B. and Jake L. Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, was one of two recipients of the 19th annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Health.

The $15,000 award was presented in late October during the annual convocation of the American College of Chest Physicians in Seattle.

The honor goes to clinical and/or basic science researchers for outstanding and exemplary original investigations that relate to tobacco consumption and health. It is named for the late Dr. Alton Ochsner, founder of the Ochsner Clinic Foundation and the first person to recognize that cigarette smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer.

Dr. Minna is holder of the Max L. Thomas Distinguished Chair in Molecular Pulmonary Oncology and the Sarah M. and Charles E. Seay Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research.

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