PHILADELPHIA (May 20, 2013)—Fox Chase Cancer Center recently honored Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), CEO of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), with the 2013 Stanley P. Reimann Honor Award for her significant contributions to cancer science and medicine.
The Stanley P. Reimann Honor Award is bestowed by Fox Chase to individuals from different spheres of influence who bring exceptional ingenuity and expertise to the cancer cause. Previous awardees include Nancy Brinker, C. Everett Koop, Frank Rauscher Jr. and Baruch S. Blumberg. The award was established in 1974 to perpetuate the memory of Stanley P. Reimann, M.D., the founder of the Institute for Cancer Research, which merged with the American Oncologic Hospital to form Fox Chase Cancer Center in 1974.
“Margaret’s contributions to cancer science and medicine are deep and far-reaching. As chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research, she is an invaluable thought leader and a builder of purposeful coalitions of individuals who strive to understand, prevent, treat, and ultimately prevail over cancer,” says Jonathan Chernoff, MD, PhD, Fox Chase’s chief scientific officer.
Foti became CEO of the AACR in 1982. Working collaboratively with the elected officers of the AACR, she has provided the continuity of leadership that has been critical to the association’s progress and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. During her tenure, the AACR’s membership has grown from about 3,000 to 34,000 laboratory, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; students; cancer survivors; and research and patient advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries.
Foti has received many national and international honors and awards for her contributions to cancer research. Most recently, she was honored with the Mildred Scheel Lectureship, which was established by the German Cancer Research Center and the German Cancer Aid to acknowledge women dedicated to the advancement of cancer research. Earlier this year, she was recognized with the Distinguished Partner in Hope Award during the Annual Colorectal Cancer Conference hosted by the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In 2012, she received the National Brain Tumor Society’s Founders Award for Excellence in Cancer Research, was recognized as a “First Lady” of the Intercultural Cancer Council, received the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s 2012 Biotech Humanitarian Award and received Research!America’s 2012 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership.
She has received numerous other accolades, such as the first Margaret Foti Award, which was established in cooperation with the University of Catania Ph.D. Oncology Program and the Italian League Against Cancer of Catania; the first Margaret Kripke Legend Award from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; the European CanCer Organization Lifetime Achievement Award; and a citation from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter for her dedication to increasing awareness of the importance of cancer research, as well as for her pivotal role in designating May as National Cancer Research Month. Foti was also the first recipient of an AACR award created in her name in 2007. She holds three honorary doctorates in medicine and surgery from medical institutions in Italy and Spain.