Dr. Tyler Jacks, founding chairman of Skyhawk’s Scientific Advisory Board, receives the American Cancer Society’s highest award, the Medal of Honor, first awarded in 1949, for his tireless commitment to addressing the complexities of cancer.
BOSTON, March 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel small molecule therapies to modulate critical RNA targets for a series of challenging diseases, announces that the American Cancer Society (ACS) has awarded the 2026 Medal of Honor to Dr. Tyler Jacks, founding Chairman of Skyhawk’s Scientific Advisory Board, founder of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and professor of biology at MIT. The Medal of Honor is the most prestigious award given by ACS to distinguished individuals who have made valuable contributions in basic, clinical, translational, or population science and whose work has led to advancement in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, or survivorship to improve the lives of patients.
“Tyler Jacks is a truly extraordinary scientist and leader across many fields and organizations. His recognition from ACS is richly deserved,” said Dr. Benjamin L. Ebert, MD, PhD, co-founding member of Skyhawk’s SAB and President and CEO of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “As founding Chairman of Skyhawk’s SAB, Tyler has been a deft guide of the scientific programs at Skyhawk, addressing both cancers and other diseases with great unmet need for patients. We are grateful for all of his prodigious contributions.”
“Tyler has worked for decades with creativity, passion, talent and a blessed knack for collaboration to reduce the burden cancer and other hideous diseases impose on patients and their families. I’m delighted to see his dazzling accomplishments as scientist and institution builder recognized by the ACS, America’s most well-known cancer institution,” said Skyhawk’s Co-founder and CEO Bill Haney. “Skyhawk’s pioneering work as a leader in the RNA revolution has been transformed by Tyler’s insight—and I know the list of other firms, non-profits and universities who have likewise benefited from Tyler’s judgment and generosity of spirit is a long one.”
About Dr. Tyler Jacks
Dr. Jacks is a pioneer in the development and use of genetically engineered mouse models to study difficult-to-treat human cancers. These models help scientists understand how tumors start and evolve, how closely they resemble human cancers, and how tools used in early cancer detection can be improved. In his MIT lab, Dr. Jacks and his group study how key genes, including tumor suppressors, oncogenes, and genes related to DNA repair, help cancers resist treatment and promote growth. Dr. Jacks has also conducted extensive research into how the immune system sees and also fails to see developing cancers.
Author of more than 300 scientific papers, Dr. Jacks has served as chair of the National Cancer Advisory Board and the Board of Scientific Advisors of the National Cancer Institute and as past president and board member of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR). His many awards include the AACR Outstanding Achievement Award, the Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, and MIT’s James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Jacks graduated magna cum laude with highest honors in biology from Harvard College. He earned his doctorate at the University of California, San Francisco, where he studied under Dr. Harold Varmus, who won the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research on oncogenes and cancer growth.
About Skyhawk Therapeutics
Skyhawk Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company which uses its proprietary platform, SKYSTAR®, to discover and develop small molecule RNA modulating therapies for the world’s most intractable diseases. For more information visit, www.skyhawktx.com.
Skyhawk Contact
Maura McCarthy
Head of Corporate Development
maura@skyhawktx.com
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/skyhawk-therapeutics-announces-its-founding-scientific-advisory-board-chairman-receives-the-american-cancer-societys-2026-medal-of-honor-302728879.html
SOURCE Skyhawk Therapeutics
