6/13/2025
PITTSBURGH – Olivera (Olja) J. Finn, Ph.D., a distinguished professor of immunology and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center was presented with the 2025 PNC Elsie Hillman Distinguished Scholar Award for her decades of research in immunology and groundbreaking work on developing a vaccine to prevent several human cancers, including breast cancer.
The PNC Elsie Hillman award, now in its 14th year, honors advancements in cancer research and treatment and recognizes those who support these efforts at UPMC Hillman, the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. The award was presented at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center BeSpoke Bash, held prior to the 2025 Rush to Crush Cancer bike event in May.
Finn is the Founding Chair of the Department of Immunology at Pitt, a position she held from 2002 to 2013. She also served as the program leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center from 1991 to 2014.
Finn’s research has focused on developing vaccines to prevent cancer. She is credited with identifying a human tumor antigen called MUC1 and showing through her pre-clinical research that anti-MUC1 immune responses can reject tumors. This discovery led to clinical trials testing this vaccine first in cancer patients and now has led to the development of the first vaccine aimed at preventing breast cancer, which is currently in clinical trials.
“Previously, cancer vaccines could only be given when patients did not respond to traditional therapies,” said Finn. “Those trials failed because the patient’s immune system was already defeated by the cancer. Our current study is vaccinating women who have what’s called stage-0 breast cancer, a pre-cancer, where we can bolster the immune system that has not yet been affected by cancer, to keep invasive breast cancer at bay.”
“As not only a colleague, but a friend, it is thrilling to see her lifelong research on the way to becoming a preventative vaccine for breast and other cancers,” said Stanley M. Marks, M.D., chairman of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “This award recognizes her outstanding research in the field of immunotherapy and cancer vaccines.”
The first time Finn’s cancer vaccine was tested for cancer prevention was in individuals at high risk for colon cancer, in two NCI-sponsored clinical trials conducted between 2008 and 2020 at UPMC and six other medical centers across the United States.
In August 2023, the first patient at risk for developing breast cancer was vaccinated at UPMC Hillman at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital as part of the ongoing trial supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the local Glimmer of Hope Foundation. The trial is designed for women newly diagnosed with a ductal-carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or stage-0 breast cancer and early results are showing that the vaccine is inducing desirable immune responses, answering the first important question. The ability of the vaccine to eliminate DCIS or to prevent new DCIS or their progression to invasive cancer, will be tested in future clinical trials.
“We are very hopeful that we will reach a point where instead of surgery or preventative radiation or chemotherapy, we will just give the vaccine to prevent cancer,” said Finn. “This truly has been a passion of my life.”
“It has been extremely gratifying to see Olja’s lifelong research get to the point where she can watch her clinical ideas and research develop into real progress,” said Dario Vignali, Ph.D., current chair of the Department of Immunology at Pitt. “She has inspired many people, and I’m so delighted she’s been given this recognition.”
Finn received her Ph.D. in Immunology at Stanford University in 1980 and completed her postdoctoral training there in 1982. She started her academic career at Duke University and in 1991 was recruited to the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.
Finn is an active member of the American Association of Immunologists, where she served as president from 2007-2008. She is also member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. She has trained 25 Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students in her laboratory and over 70 postdoctoral fellows.
Finn is the recipient of the AAI Lifetime Achievement Award, the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, the AACR CIR Lloyd Old Cancer Immunology Prize and the SITC Richard V. Smalley Memorial Award, a prestigious award for clinicians and scientists who have an enormous impact on cancer immunotherapy research. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Immunologists and fellow of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Immuno-oncology Academy.
In the Pittsburgh region, Finn has received the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute Scientific Leadership Award, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, Woman of Distinction Award from the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania, Women Driving the Material World Award from the Women and Girls Foundation of South West Pennsylvania, Merrill Egorin Scientific Leadership Award, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Women of Distinction Award, Allegheny County of Western Pennsylvania and Women in Bio, POWER Award, Sandy Gerson Award for Colon Cancer Research, and a City of Pittsburgh Proclamation of March 8, 2013 as “Olivera J. Finn Day.”
PHOTO DETAILS: click image for high-res version
CAPTION: Beth Wild, president UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; Matthew George, PNC; Olivera Finn, PhD, Elsie Hillman Award Recipient; Dr. Stanley Marks, chairman UPMC Hillman Cancer Center; Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, interim director, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
CREDIT: UPMC Hillman Cancer Center