Shields receives national award relating smoking and disease

An OSUCCC – James leader has been recognized for his important work to increase the knowledge of the impact of smoking on health.

Peter Shields, MD, deputy director of the OSUCCC and a thoracic oncologist at The James, is one of two scientists nationally who have received the 36th Annual Alton Ochsner Award Relating Smoking and Disease, which celebrates individuals who have made major contributions regarding the relationship between smoking and disease along with the development of innovative treatment modalities. 

Ochsner Health, a not-for-profit system that delivers health care to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Gulf South, has presented the award annually since 1986.

This year’s honorees will each receive a $7,500 honorarium, an award medallion and a plaque describing key research findings. Shields’ research identifies phenotypes and gene-environment interactions related to cancer risk, specifically breast and lung cancer.

This work also explores smoking-related biomarkers of exposure and harm.