Women Who Conquer Cancer Celebrates Women Leaders in Oncology

Jun 22, 2020

By Melanie Farrell, ASCO Communications

Women Who Conquer Cancer (WWCC) is a groundbreaking program that is committed to supporting women researchers by funding grants through Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation. Since WWCC was founded in 2013, it has raised nearly $5 million, funded 27 Young Investigator Awards and three Career Development Awards, providing early-career women researchers with the crucial funding needed to launch their careers as clinical investigators.
 
Now in its fifth year, the Women Who Conquer Cancer (WWCC) Mentorship Awards program honors women in oncology who are role models and mentors to women and men training to be cancer clinicians, educators, and researchers. These women are recognized for their outstanding mentoring through the annual Hologic, Inc. Endowed Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award (U.S.-based) and the International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award, supported by Eisai Inc. 
 
“Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards recognize extraordinary female leaders in oncology who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to the professional development of their oncology colleagues as clinicians, educators, and researchers. We are inspired by their example!” said Sandra M. Swain, MD, FACP, FASCO. Dr. Swain is the chair of WWCC and an ASCO past president.
 
More than 40 women were nominated by colleagues for the awards in 2020. With so many exemplary nominees, choosing the two recipients was no easy task for WWCC.

2020 Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award Recipients

This year, Dawn L. Hershman, MD, FASCO, and Lillian L. Siu, MD, FASCO, were selected from a remarkable list of celebrated women leaders from the cancer care community. Dr. Hershman and Dr. Siu were honored with the recipients of 2020 ASCO Special Awards. 
 
Dr. Hershman received the Hologic, Inc Endowed Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. She is a professor of medicine and epidemiology and leader of the Breast Cancer Program at Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Hershman is a nationally recognized expert in breast cancer treatment, prevention, and survivorship. Her research focuses on improving cancer care delivery, reducing disparities, and improving the quality of life and quality of care of breast cancer survivors. 
 
Dr. Siu received the International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award. She is a senior medical oncologist and clinician scientist in the Cancer Clinical Research Unit at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr. Siu’s primary research focus is in the area of new anticancer drug development, particularly phase I trials and head and neck malignancies. 

2020 Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award Nominees

WWCC would like to extend special congratulations to all of the nominees for this year's Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Awards: 
 
Hologic, Inc Endowed Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award Nominees 
  • Arundathy N. Bartlett-Pandite, MD, Shattuck Labs
  • Britt Kristina Erickson, MD, University of Minnesota
  • Carola A. S. Arndt, MD, Mayo Clinic
  • Carolyn J Presley, MD, MHS, Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
  • Christina M. Annunziata, MD, PhD, National Cancer Institute
  • Claire F. Verschraegen, MD, MS, FACP, The Ohio State University
  • Eileen M. O'Reilly, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Grace Makari-Judson, MD, Baystate Medical Center
  • Hedvig Hricak, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Jennifer R. Grandis, MD, University of California San Francisco
  • Julie Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, University of Washington
  • Katherine K. Matthay, MD, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine
  • Kathleen M. Schmeler, MD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Lecia V. Sequist, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Lori J. Rosenstein, MD, Gundersen Health System
  • Manijeh Goldberg, PhD, MBA, MS, Privo Technologies Inc.
  • Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD, FASCO, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School
  • Monica Morrow, MD, FASCO, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Nina Shah, MD, University of California San Francisco
  • Patricia A. Ganz, MD, FASCO, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Ritu Salani, MD, MBA, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Solove Research Institute
  • S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, FASCO, University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School
  • Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, FASCO, The University of Alabama at Birmingham
  • Susan Blaney, MD, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Cancer Center
  • Tanya Marya Wildes, MD, Washington University School of Medicine
  • Tracy A. Balboni, MD, Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center
  • Yvonne Adeduni Efebera, MD, Ohio State University - The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute
International Women Who Conquer Cancer Mentorship Award Nominees 
  • Ava Kwong, FRCS, The University of Hong Kong
  • Dilyara Kaidarova, DSc, Kazakh Institute of Oncology and Radiology
  • Isabelle Laure Ray-Coquard, MD, PhD, Centre Léon Bérard
  • Lori Wood, MD, QEII Health Sciences Centre, Nova Scotia Cancer Centre
  • Lorna Awo Renner, MD, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital
  • Nazik Hammad, FACP, MD, Med Queen's University Cancer Center of Southeastern Ontario, Kingston Health Science Center
  • Nino (Nia) Sharikadze, MD, Mardaleishvili Medical Center
  • Rachel Pimenta Riechelmann, MD, AC Camargo Cancer Center
  • Raya Hamad Saab, MD, American University of Beirut
  • Silvia Novello, MD, PhD, University of Torino
  • Solange Peters, MD, PhD, Lausanne University Hospital, CHUV
  • Sushma Bhatnagar, MD, MSc, All India Institute of Medical Sciences  
WWCC supports and celebrates all women dedicated to advancing the discoveries of oncology’s emerging female leaders. ASCO and Conquer Cancer congratulate all the recipients and nominees. 
 
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