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Among her many awards are the prestigious Charles F. Kettering Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Awards in 2005, the Dorothy P. Landon-AACR Prize for Translational Cancer Research in 2006, recognizing “seminal contributions to our understanding of cancer through basic and translational research,” and the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 2000. Dr. Brodie was the first woman to receive the Kettering Prize, given for the most outstanding recent contribution to the diagnosis or treatment of cancer. She was also nominated for the Lasker Award.
In 2013, she was selected by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) as a fellow of the newly created AACR Academy. AACR created the academy “to recognize and honor distinguished scientists whose major scientific contributions have propelled significant innovation and progress against cancer.” She also received the Pharmacia Award of the American Society for Experimental Therapeutics in 2012.
Dr. Brodie’s distinguished career at the University of Maryland School of Medicine spanned 37 years until her retirement in 2016. She was a professor of pharmacology at the School of Medicine and a researcher in the Hormone Responsive Cancers Program at the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Her Department Chair in Pharmacology, Margaret McCarthy, PhD, says: “Angela was the heart and soul of the department of pharmacology. She was just as willing to serve on the thesis committee of a graduate student as to provide major leadership to the school in its research and outreach efforts. Angela was never too busy or too important, she participated in every activity asked of her and was a favored lecturer by the medical students. Although she had recently retired you wouldn’t of known it as she was regularly in her office working on manuscripts, advising students and meeting with colleagues. Angela was a rare gem and while she will be dearly missed her impact will endure by the shining example of her scientific excellence, mentorship and deep commitment to her community”.
In recent years, Dr. Brodie continued her work with aromatase inhibitors and expanded her research into a new area, prostate cancer. She teamed up with colleague, Dr. Vincent Njar and others to investigate inhibitors of androgen synthesis as potential agents for treating prostate cancer. Commenting on the collaboration he shared with Angela Brodie, Dr. Njar reminisces that he was just a visiting professor when he came to University of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and UMGCCC in 1996. “Today, I have my own independent laboratory and research programs, and much of that is due to Angela’s support. She has been a truly wonderful friend and colleague, unbelievably brilliant and encouraging partner. May her soul rest in perfect peace."
She published more than 200 papers in peer-revised scientific journals and at one time was an associate editor for Cancer Research and edited articles for numerous other journals.
Her hobbies included horseback riding, hiking and gardening.
The School of Medicine is establishing an endowed professorship in honor of Dr. Brodie’s scientific achievements: The Drs. Angela and Harry Brodie Distinguished Professorship in Translational Cancer Research.
Dr. Brodie is survived by her husband, (Harry Brodie, PhD), a retired NIH Executive Secretary for grant review; a son, Mark Brodie, a drama teacher in San Fernando, Calif.; and two grandchildren. Another son, John Hartley Brodie, PhD, a theoretical physicist, died in 2006.