AACR CEO Margaret Foti Receives Cancer Service Award

September 28, 2006 - PHILADELPHIA – American Association for Cancer Research Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.) will receive the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) Distinguished Service Award for her outstanding contributions to progress in cancer research. The award will be presented during a special ceremony at the AACI’s annual meeting, October 22 – 24, 2006.

“I’m deeply honored to receive this special recognition from the Association of American Cancer Institutes,” Foti said. “The AACI is a vitally important organization in the cancer field. As an effective advocate for the nation’s cancer centers, AACI advances the cancer research agenda and facilitates progress against this terrible disease.”

“Under Dr. Foti’s leadership, the American Association for Cancer Research has become the largest scientific organization in the world focused on every aspect of high-quality, innovative cancer research,” said AACI President H. Shelton Earp III, M.D. “The Distinguished Service Award recognizes her outstanding contributions to the progress of cancer research at the nation’s cancer centers and her commitment to fostering the exchange of knowledge and new ideas among scientists dedicated to cancer research.”

Foti has dedicated her career to cancer research and the AACR. Progressing through several key editorial and management roles at the AACR, she was appointed to her current position of CEO in 1982 by the AACR’s Board of Directors. In addition, she serves as Secretary-Treasurer and CEO of the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer and Managing Editor of Cancer Research. During Foti’s tenure, AACR membership has grown to more than 24,000 scientists residing in more than 70 countries.

“Dr. Foti’s accomplishments at AACR are numerous and her exceptional stewardship of AACR has contributed significantly to the U.S. cancer research infrastructure’s status as the best in the world,” said AACI Executive Director Barbara Duffy Stewart.

In addition to serving as Managing Editor of Cancer Research, the most highly cited cancer journal in the world, Foti and the AACR have launched four additional high-quality journals: Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; and Molecular Cancer Research—all of which are prestigious publications in the cancer field, contributing over 26,000 scientific pages to the scientific literature every year.

Among her many outside professional activities, Foti has served as a Board member, and later as President, of the National Coalition for Cancer Research; member of the Advisory Board of the Friends of Cancer Research; Board member of the Translational Genomics Institute (TGen); Medical Advisory Board Member of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation; member of the Council of the European Association for Cancer Research; and Board member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. She has also served as President of the Council of Science Editors and of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, and has served in various capacities for the International Federation of Science Editors, the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the European Life Science Editors Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association, among others. She has also been a consultant to a number of nonprofit organizations and has lectured widely at academic institutions in the United States and abroad.

Foti has received many national and international awards for her contributions to cancer research including: the American Association for Cancer Research; the City of Paris for her contributions to the field of oncology; the Cino del Duca Award for raising public awareness globally; the Community Caring Award from the William S. Graham Foundation for Melanoma Research; and the American Society of Clinical Oncology for her work in advancing clinical cancer research. For her work she has also been awarded Honorary Memberships in the Japanese Cancer Association and the European Association for Cancer Research, and an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Rome La Sapienza.

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes more than 24,000 basic, translational, and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 80 other countries. AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts over 17,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, diagnosis and treatment. AACR publishes five major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. Its most recent publication, CR, is a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists. It provides a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.

Contact Information

Staci Vernick Goldberg

American Association for Cancer Research

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