PORTLAND, Ore. -- Dr. Brian Druker, leukemia program leader for the Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors for a scientist.

KGW photo

Oregon Health and Science University Hospital.

The academy comprises about 2,000 members and 350 foreign associates. More than 200 members have won Nobel Prizes.

"Brian Druker is an outstanding scientist, physician, teacher and human being whose work ignited what has now become a revolution in cancer treatment," said Dr. Grover Bagby, director of the OHSU Cancer Institute. "I know not a single individual in academic medicine who deserves this honor more."

Druker's work was key in developing the drug Gleevec, the first pill that proved successful in stopping chronic myeloid leukemia, an often deadly form of cancer. The drug was developed partly by OHSU, and Druker led the first human trials proving Gleevec's use.

He is the third person from Oregon Health & Science University named to the academy.