The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) named David Rimm, MD, PhD, Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology and of Medicine (Medical Oncology), as the recipient of the 2026 James S. Ewing-Thelma B. Dunn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Pathology in Cancer Research. The award recognizes and celebrates pathologists who have contributed significantly to advancing cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
“He is being recognized for pioneering innovation in quantitative biomarker science that has transformed cancer diagnostics and treatment,” the association says in a release. "Rimm’s invention of the fluorescence-based Automated Quantitative Analysis platform has greatly advanced immunohistochemistry by enabling precise, reproducible protein quantification in tissue specimens. His extensive work advancing multiplexed and computational imaging approaches, and his leadership in defining clinically relevant differences in PD-L1 assays, HER2 assays, and immune biomarkers using standardization and harmonization approaches have effectively shaped precision cancer medicine.”
Rimm is also director of the Yale Cancer Center Tissue Microarray Facility, director of Yale Pathology Tissue Services, and director of the Physician Scientist Training Program. For more than 30 years, Rimm has been principal investigator of the Rimm Laboratory, where he focuses on quantitative pathology, using technologies invented in the lab. The Rimm Lab developed the Troplex™ assay, which quantitatively measures the levels of two breast cancer biomarkers, HER2 and TROP2—targets for antibody-drug conjugate therapies.
Rimm’s philosophy can be summed up in three words: Measure, don’t read.
“I’m trying to stress the philosophy that pathology needs to be quantitative, not entirely subjective,” he says. “There are subjective parts that will never go away. But the parts that we can make quantitative, we should make quantitative, and that’s been my underlying vision.”