Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This year, Conquer Cancer will recognize 104 recipients with Merit Awards. These oncology professionals are recognized for their respective field and research advancements within the cancer care community. 

“New ideas fuel breakthroughs in cancer care,” said Melissa Johnson, MD, chair of the ASCO Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee. “It is an honor to showcase the promising discoveries of these Merit Award recipients and share their information with peers in the oncology community.”

See the complete list of 2020 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Award recipients.

Special Merit Awards are presented each year to trainees and junior faculty who have the top-ranking abstracts for the ASCO Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee will present five additional recipients with Special Merit Awards in their respective abstract categories:

Ines Pires Da Silva, MD PhD, of Melanoma Institute Australia, received the Bradley Stuart Beller Endowed Merit Award for the highest ranking abstract overall, Supported by Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller.

Anna Lee, MD, MPH, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, received the Allen S. Lichter, MD, Endowed Merit Award for the second highest-ranking abstract overall.

Vikram Jairam, MD, of Yale School of Medicine, received the Pain and Symptom Management Special Merit Award for the highest-ranking abstract in pain and symptom management research.

Amir Bari Siddiqui, BS, MD, of the University of Chicago Medical Center, received the Brigid Leventhal Special Merit Award for the top-ranking abstract in pediatric oncology, supported by The Berry Family.

Cornelis van Tilburg, MD, of Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg University Hospital, and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), received the James B. Nachman Endowed ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology for the highest scoring abstract in pediatric oncology, supported by Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman.

The 2020 Conquer Cancer Merit Awards are sponsored by:

Anonymous, AbbVie, Inc., ASCO Employees, Association of Northern California Oncologists, AstraZeneca, Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller, The Berry Family, Dr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Blayney, Breast Cancer Research Foundation®, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Jonathan K. and Cora Y. Cho Charitable Fund, Eisai Inc., Estate of Darla C. Ellis, Epiphany Partners Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Oncology, Harborside, Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Kimberly Irvine, Michael Kelley, MD & Elise Hoffman, PharmD, William T. Leslie, MD, Lilly, Loxo Oncology Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, FASCO and Nicole M. Kuderer, MD, Michigan Society of Hematology & Oncology, Therese Marie Mulvey, MD, FASCO, Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman, New Rhein Healthcare, LLC, Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society, Dr. Kathleen Pritchard Medicine Professional Corporation, Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FASCO, Stephen A. Sherwin, MD, Drs. Rachna and Puneet Shroff, Mr. Jackson G. Simpson, Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Nizar M. Tannir, MD, Anthony and Marilyn Tolcher, and Dr. Michael and Deborah Troner.