NIH Mourns Passing of Neckers
Dr. Leonard (Len) Neckers, a renowned cancer researcher, passed away in July.
Neckers’ 40-year career at NIH began in 1974 with studies at NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health of serotonin turnover and serotoninergic pathways in the central nervous system. He joined NIH’s National Cancer Institute in 1981 in the Laboratory of Pathology and later moved to the Urologic Oncology Branch.
Neckers worked tirelessly to develop molecularly targeted therapeutic approaches to modulate cancer cell growth and survival. His work put heat shock proteins on the map as potential targets for cancer therapy. He was regarded as an early advocate of the importance of translational research to bring laboratory findings into the world of patient care.
Throughout his career, Neckers was known as a supportive mentor and a respected co-worker. He was described as kind, caring and thoughtful, always having time to stop and chat with a colleague.
The family posted a tribute wall (https://bit.ly/4fT2mwp) for sharing memories and photos. NCI published a celebration of his life and work last year at the time of his retirement: https://go.nih.gov/hurZG6q.