Erkki Ruoslahti is a cancer researcher at the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and University of California Santa Barbara.
Ruoslahti made seminal contributions to biology of extracellular matrix and its receptors.
He introduced the concept of vascular zip codes (the idea that each tissue bears molecular sigantures that can be targeted by affinity ligands) and used in vivo peptide phage display to prove the concept and develop numerous tumor homing peptides.
His group has developed of a novel class of cell- and tissue penetrating peptides that can be used for biological delivery of drugs and nanoparticles to extravascular spece in tissues. When exposed at the C-terminus of the peptide, such C-end Rule (CendR, pronounced "sender") peptides bind to neuropilin-1 and cause vascular leakage and tissue penetration. iRGD is a pan-tumor penetrating CendR peptide that can be used for tumor delivery of conjugated and combination delivery of various payloads (drugs, imaging agents).

Awards and honors

• American Association for Cancer Research
  American Association for Cancer Research
  The American Association for Cancer Research is the world's oldest and largest professional association to advancing cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research including basic, clinical and translational research into the etiology, prevention, diagnosis,...
  
   - G.H.A. Clowes Award
• Robert J. and Claire Pasarow Foundation Medical Research Award
• Jacobaeus International Prize
• Jubilee Award given by the British Biomedical Society
• Nobel Fellow at the Karolinska Institute
  Karolinska Institutet
  Karolinska institutet is a medical university in Solna within the Stockholm urban area, Sweden, and one of Europe's largest medical universities...
  
   in Stockholm (1995)
• Honorary Doctorate from the University of Lund
• Knight of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
• Japan Prize
  Japan Prize
  is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind."- Explanation :...
  
   in Cell Biology (2005)

• Member of
  • U.S. National Academy of Sciences
    United States National Academy of Sciences
    The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
    
    
  • Institute of Medicine
    Institute of Medicine
    The Institute of Medicine is a not-for-profit, non-governmental American organization founded in 1970, under the congressional charter of the National Academy of Sciences...
    
    
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    American Academy of Arts and Sciences
    The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
    
    
  • European Molecular Biology Organization
    European Molecular Biology Organization
    EMBO stands for excellence in the life sciences. The EMBO mission is to enable the best science by supporting talented researchers, stimulating scientific exchange and advancing policies for a world-class European research environment....