George C. Prendergast, PhD
President and CEO, Lankenau Institute for Medical Research
Prendergast is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar he earned a bachelor's degree magna cum laude with distinction in biochemistry. He received his master's degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and his doctorate in molecular biology from Princeton University.
After obtaining advanced training as an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at NYU Medical Center, he joined the department of cancer research at Merck Research Laboratories. In 1993, Prendergast was appointed assistant professor and later associate professor at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, where he was designated a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Subsequently, he became the senior director of the Cancer Research Group at the DuPont Pharmaceutical Company.
In 2002, he moved his research efforts at Wistar and DuPont to LIMR, where he has pioneered new principles to prognose and treat advanced cancers. In particular, Prendergast and his team at LIMR have developed an exciting new immune therapy currently in Phase II clinical trials at Main Line Health hospitals that stimulates a patient's immune system to destroy metastatic cancer cells.
Along with his scientific and leadership roles, Prendergast also served as the Editor-in-Chief of Cancer Research, one of the most highly cited journals in the field. In leading LIMR, the research center for Main Line Health, he has developed a world-class reputation marked by numerous recognitions and honors.