ASCO is deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, on February 21, 2022, at age 62.

Dr. Farmer, an infectious disease physician and medical anthropologist by training, was a leading voice in the movement for global health equity. He was co-founder and chief strategist at Partners In Health (PIH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to delivering high-quality medical care in some of the most underserved and impoverished areas of the world. According to PIH, its mission is two-fold: “to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need of them and to serve as an antidote to despair.”

At the time of his passing, according to PIH, Dr. Farmer was the Kolokotrones University Professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, as well as the author of numerous books, along with his roles at PIH.

At the 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting, Dr. Farmer spoke at the Opening Session about global health and cancer care in resource-limited settings. As ASCO mourns the passing of Dr. Farmer, we renew our commitment to our shared mission of ensuring that everyone around the world can access the highest quality, equitable cancer care.  

Learn more about Dr. Farmer’s extraordinary life and legacy in an obituary published by the New York Times. Watch Dr. Farmer's 2013 ASCO Annual Meeting presentation below.