Kenneth Offit
{{short description|American geneticist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = June 2015}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image = Kenneth Offit speaks at 2018 National Academy of Medicine Annual Meeting.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Kenneth Offit
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|2|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place = New York, New York,
United States
| field = Cancer Genetics, Oncology, Medical Research
| work_institution = Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
| alma_mater = Princeton University
Harvard Medical School
Harvard School of Public Health
| known_for = BRCA2 Research
| prizes = American Society of Clinical Oncology-American Cancer Society Award (2013)
| spouse = {{marriage|Emily Sonnenblick|1984}}
}}
Kenneth Offit (born February 19, 1955) is an American cancer geneticist and oncologist known for his discoveries with respect to the genetic bases of breast, colorectal, and lymphoid cancers. He is currently Chief of the Clinical Genetics Service and the Robert and Kate Niehaus Chair in Inherited Cancer Genomics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.{{cite web|title = Kenneth Offit {{!}} Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center|url = https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/doctors/kenneth-offit|website =Mskcc.org|access-date = 2015-07-01}} Offit is also a member of the Program in Cancer Biology and Genetics at the Sloan-Kettering Institute and Professor of Medicine and Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College.{{cite web|title = Offit, Kenneth|url = http://vivo.med.cornell.edu/display/cwid-keo2009|website = Vivo.med.cornell.edu|access-date = 2015-07-01}} He was previously a member of both the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute and the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention working group of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.{{cite web |url=http://www.egappreviews.org/workingrp/members.htm |title=EGAPP|Working Group: Members |publisher=Egappreviews.org |access-date=2015-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806033606/http://www.egappreviews.org/workingrp/members.htm |archive-date=August 6, 2015 |url-status=dead }}
Offit has garnered numerous honors for his contributions to the prevention and management of cancer. In 2013, he was selected for the American Society of Clinical Oncology-American Cancer Society Award and Lecture.{{cite web |date=May 22, 2013 |title=Three Memorial-Sloan Kettering Researchers Receive Special Awards by the American Society of Clinical Oncology {{!}} Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |url=https://www.mskcc.org/blog/three-msk-researchers-receive-special-awards-american-society-clinical-oncology |access-date=2015-07-01 |website=Mskcc.org}}{{cite web |title=ASCO - American Cancer Society Award and Lecture |url=http://www.asco.org/award-recipients/%20ASCO%20-%20American%20Cancer%20Society%20Award%20and%20Lecture |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720222209/http://www.asco.org/award-recipients/%20ASCO%20-%20American%20Cancer%20Society%20Award%20and%20Lecture |archive-date=July 20, 2015 |website=Asco.org}} In 2016, he was elected as a Member of the National Academy of Medicine{{cite web|url=https://nam.edu/national-academy-of-medicine-elects-79-new-members/ |title=National Academy of Medicine Elects 79 New Members |publisher=National Academy of Medicine |access-date=2016-10-21}} and appointed to the Roundtable on Genomics and Precision Health.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/roundtable-on-genomics-and-precision-health/about#members |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=www.nationalacademies.org}} In 2018, he was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ascopost.com/issues/june-3-2018-narratives-special-issue/2018-fellows-of-asco-recognized-during-annual-meeting/|title=2018 Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) Recognized During Annual Meeting in Chicago|date=June 3, 2018|website=The ASCO Post|access-date=January 23, 2020}} In 2021, he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.{{Cite web |title=Three Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Faculty Members Elected as 2021 AAAS Fellows {{!}} Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |url=https://www.mskcc.org/news/three-mskcc-faculty-members-elected-2021-aaas-fellows |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=www.mskcc.org |date=January 27, 2022 |language=en}} In 2023, he was awarded University of Pennsylvania's Basser Global Prize for BRCA1 and BRCA2-related research{{Cite web |title=2023 Basser Global Prize Awarded to Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH |url=https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2023/october/2023-basser-global-prize-awarded-to-kenneth-offit |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=www.pennmedicine.org |language=en-US}} and an Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his national professional and civic contributions.{{Cite web |title=EIHS Medalists |url=http://medalists.eihonors.org/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=medalists.eihonors.org}} In 2025, Offit was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. {{Cite web|url=https://www.amacad.org/news/new-member-announcement-2025|title=Honoring Excellence, Announcing New Members: Academy 2025 Election |date=April 23, 2025|website=American Academy of Arts and Sciences}}
Early life and education
Offit was born in New York City on February 19, 1955, to Dr. Avodah K. Offit (née Komito), a psychiatrist, and Sidney Offit, an author.{{cite news |date=1984-06-11 |title=Dr. Emily Sonnenblick Weds in Darien |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/11/style/dr-emily-sonnenblick-weds-in-darien.html |access-date=2015-07-07 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Offit attended the Browning School and then Princeton University, where he was chairman of the campus humor magazine, Tiger Magazine.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRZbAAAAYAAJ&q=Kenneth%2520Offit%2520trustee%2520princeton&pg=RA10-PA34 |title=Princeton Alumni Weekly |date=1976 |publisher=Princeton Alumni Weekly |access-date=2015-07-17}} He graduating magna cum laude in 1977 and joined the University Board of Trustees as a young alumni trustee. In this capacity, he worked closely with President William G. Bowen on issues pertaining to Princeton's residential system.{{Cite book |last=Malkiel |first=Nancy Weiss |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIS_EAAAQBAJ&dq=kenneth+offit+bowen&pg=PA381 |title=Changing the Game: William G. Bowen and the Challenges of American Higher Education |date=2023-11-14 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-24781-6 |language=en}} In 1979, Offit voted to endorse the proposals of the Committee on Undergraduate Residential Life (CURL) that would become the basis for Princeton's current residential college system.{{Cite web |title=1. Introduction {{!}} Princetoniana Museum |url=https://www.princetonianamuseum.org/artifact/698914f2-bc19-4075-9f5d-64f1748c7461 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=www.princetonianamuseum.org}} Offit and other trustees would further propose that residential colleges be expanded to include upperclassmen who had not joined a selective eating club—a reform that, with some modification, would be adopted decades later.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, Offit completed an M.D. at Harvard Medical School and an M.P.H. at the Harvard School of Public Health. He then returned to New York for a residency in internal medicine at the Lenox Hill Hospital. Upon finishing the residency in 1985, he moved to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for a three-year fellowship in hematology and oncology.{{Cite web |title=Dr. Kenneth Offit - Medical Oncology - New York, NY |url=https://www.castleconnolly.com/top-doctors/kenneth-offit-medical-oncology-81cc003534 |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Castle Connolly |language=en}}
Career and research
Offit joined the faculty at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center upon the completion of his fellowship in 1988.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-19 |title=Member Bios{{!}}Working Group{{!}}EGAPP{{!}}CDC |url=https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/egappreviews/workingrp/bios.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=archive.cdc.gov |language=en-us}} His early work involved molecular cytogenetic studies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
In 1992, Offit founded one of the world's first clinical cancer genetics services. In 1996, after the discovery of the BRCA2 gene, he and his research group successfully identified the most common mutation on the gene associated with breast and ovarian cancer among individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.{{cite web|url=http://www.bcrfcure.org/researchers/kenneth-offit |title=Kenneth Offit | Breast Cancer Research Foundation | BCRF |date=June 23, 2014 |publisher=Bcrfcure.org |access-date=2015-07-16}}{{cite news|title = A revolution at 50; kenneth offit|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/25/science/a-revolution-at-50-kenneth-offit.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 2003-02-25|access-date = 2015-07-02|issn = 0362-4331}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mskcc.org/sites/default/files/node/28114/images/hereditary-breast-cancer-timeline.jpg |format=JPG |title=20 Years of Progress in Understanding Breast Cancer |publisher=Mskcc.org |access-date=2015-07-17}}{{Cite news|title = 2d Breast Cancer Gene Found in Jewish Women|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/02/us/2d-breast-cancer-gene-found-in-jewish-women.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 1996-10-02|access-date = 2015-07-07|issn = 0362-4331|first = Gina|last = Kolata}}{{Cite web |title=Why Choose MSK's Clinical Genetics Service for Genetic Counseling and Testing? {{!}} Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center |url=https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/risk-assessment-screening/genetic-counseling-and-testing/why-choose-msk-s-clinical-genetics-service-genetic-counseling-and-testing |access-date=2024-04-06 |website=www.mskcc.org |language=en}} Offit would also lead the first American Society of Clinical Oncology policy statement following the identification of BRCA1 and BRCA2. In 1997, he wrote Clinical Cancer Genetics: Risk Counseling and Management, which received an award in Medical Sciences from the Association of American Publishers.{{cite web |title=Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH - DANA FARBER Master Class Courses for Oncologists |url=http://www.dfcimasterclass.com/Speaker/Detail.aspx?cid=c7b83fe9-f5ce-4839-a0c3-ae64389a271c |access-date=2015-07-01 |website=Dfcimasterclass.com |archive-date=July 20, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720200607/http://www.dfcimasterclass.com/Speaker/Detail.aspx?cid=c7b83fe9-f5ce-4839-a0c3-ae64389a271c |url-status=dead }}
In 2002, Offit and his clinical team published the first prospective study establishing the role of risk-reducing ovarian surgery in women carrying BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.{{Cite journal |last1=Kauff |first1=Noah D. |last2=Satagopan |first2=Jaya M. |last3=Robson |first3=Mark E. |last4=Scheuer |first4=Lauren |last5=Hensley |first5=Martee |last6=Hudis |first6=Clifford A. |last7=Ellis |first7=Nathan A. |last8=Boyd |first8=Jeff |last9=Borgen |first9=Patrick I. |last10=Barakat |first10=Richard R. |last11=Norton |first11=Larry |last12=Castiel |first12=Mercedes |last13=Nafa |first13=Khedoudja |last14=Offit |first14=Kenneth |date=2002-05-23 |title=Risk-Reducing Salpingo-oophorectomy in Women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation |url=http://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa020119 |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |language=en |volume=346 |issue=21 |pages=1609–1615 |doi=10.1056/NEJMoa020119 |pmid=12023992 |issn=0028-4793}}{{Cite web |date=2014-10-21 |title=Dr. Kenneth Offit Receives ASCO-ACS Award for Genomic Discoveries, Larger Social Implications Regarding Cancer Risk {{!}} ASCO Annual Meeting |url=http://am.asco.org/dr-kenneth-offit-receives-asco-acs-award-genomic-discoveries-larger-social-implications-regarding |access-date=2024-03-27 |archive-date=October 21, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021120139/http://am.asco.org/dr-kenneth-offit-receives-asco-acs-award-genomic-discoveries-larger-social-implications-regarding |url-status=bot: unknown }} They would go on to discover or describe recurrent mutations causing increased risk for colon and prostate cancer, and, in 2013 and 2015, they described two genetic syndromes of inherited childhood lymphoblastic leukemia.{{cite web|title=Another Genetic Error Linked to Childhood Leukemia: MedlinePlus |url=https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_153506.html |website=Nlm.nih.gov |access-date=2015-07-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716074134/http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_153506.html |archive-date=July 16, 2015 }}
In 2018, Offit joined Beth Karlan, Judy Garber, Susan Domchek, and other physicians to launch the BRCA Founder Outreach Study (BFOR). BFOR provided free testing for three mutations for all insured people over the age of 25 with at least one grandparent of Ashkenazi heritage.{{Cite news |last=Dolsten|first=Josefin|date=March 14, 2018 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-study-on-cancer-risk-in-ashkenazi-jews-aims-to-be-model-for-genetic-testing/|title=New study on cancer risk in Ashkenazi Jews aims to be model for genetic testing|newspaper=The Times of Israel }} Offit called BFOR "a model for the future of genetic testing in health care"—one that would, in contrast to direct-to-consumer genetics testing, allow participants to receive results from their primary care provider.{{Cite news |last=Dolsten |first=Josefin |date=March 14, 2018 |title=New Study Of Ashkenazi Cancer Gene Could Be A Model For Genetic Testing |url=https://forward.com/news/breaking-news/396508/new-study-of-ashkenazi-cancer-gene-could-be-a-model-for-genetic-testing/ |work=The Forward}}
Personal Life
In 1984, Offit married Emily Sonnenblick. Sonnenblick is a radiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and the daughter of cardiologist Edmund Sonnenblick. One of their daughters, Anna Offit, is an assistant professor of law at Southern Methodist University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smu.edu/Law/Faculty/Profiles/Offit-Anna-C|title=Anna C. Offit|website=Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law}}
References
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Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Harvard Medical School alumni
Category:Browning School alumni
Category:Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center physicians