Benjamin L. Ebert has been honored by the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) with the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award, an annual prize in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions and excellence in mentorship (Figure 1). Dr. Ebert, Chair of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and his team discovered the mechanism of action underlying the therapeutic benefits of lenalidomide, used to treat multiple myeloma and myelodysplastic syndromes. His laboratory has also made seminal contributions to our understanding of clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which not only increases the risk of hematological malignancies but also is associated with cardiovascular disease risk. Dr. Ebert recently spoke to the JCI about his research career and key discoveries made to date.

JCI: Were you always interested in a career in medicine? Ebert: It was certainly always in my mind, because family members have pursued careers in academic medicine, but I became most interested in a career as a physician-scientist in college, when I spent time working in a lab during the summers. I worked with Daryl Granner, who at the time was the head of the MD/PhD program at Vanderbilt, and started to see the careers of people who combine medicine and basic science. As a college senior, I applied to MD/PhD programs and for one scholarship that I had absolutely no expectation of receiving. When that [Rhodes scholarship] came through, I went to Oxford without a clear idea of what I was going do when I arrived, having initially enrolled to do a second BA in biochemistry. I eventually decided to do research instead and found my way to the lab of Peter Ratcliffe. I absolutely loved working with him. It was early days in his lab, and I was one of his first graduate students. We were work-