KNOWN for his discoveries in cancer research, Theodore G. Krontiris, M.D., Ph.D., has lived up to his designation at Martins Ferry High School as a "Leader of Tomorrow."
His work has led to his selection by Los Angeles magazine as one of that city's most influential people, and his newest honor will be his induction into the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor in April.
The Leader of Tomorrow designation in high school was part of a program sponsored by The Times Leader to recognize outstanding high school students. Krontiris, who participated in varied high school activities, was valedictorian of the Martins Ferry Class of 1964.
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WITH Theodore G. Krontiris, M.D., Ph.D., are two of his three daughters, Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Charlotte. A former Martins Ferry resident, Krontiris is one of three honorees to be inducted Sunday, April 3, into the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor. More photos of the honoree, famed for his cancer research, are on Page C1.
He has conducted medical research for nearly 40 years on the molecular mechanisms giving rise to cancer.
He and his colleagues were the first to identify a gene family activated in human tumors, and he later conducted the first large genetic studies on the inherited risk of human cancer.
In 1996, Krontiris moved to the City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., to become the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Medicine within the Beckman Research Institute.
In 2001, he was appointed director of the National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at the City of Hope as well as executive vice president for medical and scientific affairs. He became director emeritus of the Cancer Center in 2008.
In 2010, the former Martins Ferry man was inducted into the City of Hope's Scientific Research Portrait Gallery of Honor.
After being graduated from Martins Ferry High School, Krontiris obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago in 1968. From 1969-77, he attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, receiving his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Medical Scientists Training Program in 1977.
He received training in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and postdoctoral training in molecular biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute from 1977-82. Then, he joined the faculty of the Tufts University School of Medicine in 1982, eventually becoming professor of medicine and founding director of the graduate program in genetics at the Tufts Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences.
Krontiris was a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund postdoctoral fellow as well as a fellow of the Hartford Foundation. In addition to receiving a Faculty Research Award from the American Cancer Society, he has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
He has served on scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. His memberships also included the Board of Directors for the National Cancer Centers Network and the Beckman Foundation as well as being on the Governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
The Ferrian also has served on the Board of Directors for the Wellesley (Mass.) Community Children's Center, Medfield (Mass.) Coalition for Public Education, Westridge School for Girls (Pasadena, Calif.); and Planned Parenthood of Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley.
Krontiris, son of the late John and Anne Krontiris, married Sue Parilla in 1972, and they now live in Pasadena. She is a senior editor at the Atlantic Monthly. They have three daughters, Katherine, Elizabeth and Charlotte.
Inducted into the Martins Ferry Hall of Honor along with Krontiris will be Jay Stock, Master Photographer who has photographed people on five continents, and the late Howard Grayson, who earned acclaim as the oldest, active volunteer firefighter in the state of Ohio with 70 years of service.
The April 3 ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. at Martins Ferry High School. Sponsor for the HofH is The Citizens Bank.
Cookies and punch will be served after the ceremony, which is open to the public without charge.
Krontiris, in addition to being valedictorian and a Leader of Tomorrow in high school, was an officer and two-year member of the National Honor Society, and he participated in Junior Town meeting and Boys' State.
He also served as officer in the Latin Club, senior class and homeroom. Participating on scholarship teams, the 1964 graduate also was a member of the Ferrian (yearbook) staff and the Future Teachers of America.
A participant on the track team for four years, he was a sprinter and anchored the sprint relay team. "Always dependable, he was the second highest team scorer," according to the yearbook.
Under a picture of Krontiris as a track participant are the words that he "shows determination as he crosses the finish line." Apparently, that determination continued in his professional life in research.
Pokas can be reached at timesleader@timesleaderonline.com.
