ASCO will recognize George P. Browman, MD, MSc, FRCPC, medical oncologist and health services researcher, with the Joseph V. Simone Award and Lecture for Excellence in Quality and Safety in the Care of Patients with Cancer. Dr. Browman will be presented the award at the 2017 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, March 3-4, 2017, in Orlando, Florida.

“For the optimal care of patients with cancer, cancer treatments must be shown to be both effective and safe in meeting patients’ needs and respecting their preferences,” said Dr. Browman. “The quality of the care provided to patients with cancer depends on being patient-centered, grounded in research about the best evidence available for choosing among different treatment and other care options, and open to measuring and being accountable for the performance of the cancer system in meeting quality and safety standards. I am honored to be recognized by an award that validates the important role that evidence-based guidelines play in helping oncologists make clinical decisions with their patients, and to facilitate the participation of oncologists in contributing to decisions at the policy and systems levels.”

 The Joseph V. Simone Award, established in 2016, recognizes individuals who have contributed remarkably to the quality and safety of cancer care. Named after Joseph V. Simone, MD, FASCO, the award is intended to both recognize the awardee and honor its namesake, a visionary pioneer in cancer care who contributed to the development of curative treatments for childhood leukemia and lymphoma, and was instrumental in the creation of ASCO's Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI^®), among other career accomplishments.

“Dr. Browman has brought a perspective to quality improvement grounded in a common sense approach that is open to evaluation,” said Michael N. Neuss, MD, FASCO, chair of the 2017 Quality Care Symposium Program Committee. “A pioneer and leader in the development and promotion of guideline-based care, he has maintained that all guidelines are not of equal value, reminding all of us that scientific evidence has the central role in driving the quality of care, with expert consensus reserved for how that evidence is interpreted within practice contexts; that the changing nature of science requires guideline maintenance; and that demonstration of guideline adherence and impact needs to be based on more than simple assertion. Like Dr. Simone, Dr. Browman has contributed to the education of dedicated trainees-turned-colleagues who have both served to amplify his contribution to improving the care of patients with cancer and can testify to his support, teaching ability, and friendship."

An innovator in quality cancer care, Dr. Browman was the founding director of Cancer Care Ontario’s (CCO) Program in Evidence-based Care from 1998 to 2004. Under his oversight, CCO’s oncology guidelines program became a model for the development and dissemination of rigorous evidence-based guidelines in oncology, and also for research into methods for improving guideline development and implementation for optimal cancer care. As chair of the Cancer Guidelines Action/Advisory Group of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, he established a national network to extend the impact of CCO’s guidelines experience and expertise through partnerships across the globe, including collaborations with ASCO’s guidelines program and France’s cancer guidelines initiatives.

In addition to his contributions to quality cancer care through evidence-based guideline development, Dr. Browman has also led clinical trials in head and neck cancer and hematologic malignancies, and made original contributions to the field of quality of life measurement. Most recently, he has worked to advance research in bioethics, particularly as it relates to its applications with precision medicine.

Though now retired from full-time oncology practice, Dr. Browman stays active in the oncology world, having recently served as a member of the Methodology Subcommittee of ASCO’s Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee; as a clinical professor in the School of Population & Public Health at the University of British Columbia; and as a professor part time in the Departments of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics and Oncology at McMaster University. He is also a collaborator on many research projects.