Conquer Cancer Honors Oncology Professionals With Merit Awards at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting

Conquer Cancer^®, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who were first authors on abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This year, Conquer Cancer recognized 125 recipients with Merit Awards at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, having already awarded 33 symposia-specific Merit Awards in 2019.

These oncology professionals are recognized for their submitted high-quality research, with Special Merit awards given to authors of the highest-ranking abstracts in select categories.

All recipients, institutions, and sponsors are up to date as of June 6, 2019.

The ASCO Scientific Program Committee presented five recipients with Special Merit Awards in their respective abstract categories:

• Dai Chihara, MD, PhD, National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health
  Bradley Stuart Beller Endowed Merit Award for the highest-ranking abstract overall (supported by friends and family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller)
• Sarah Abou Alaiwi, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  Allen S. Lichter, MD, Endowed Merit Award for the second highest-ranking abstract overall
• Po-Ju Lin, PhD, MPH, RD, University of Rochester Medical Center
  Pain and Symptom Management Special Merit Award for the highest-ranking abstract in pain and symptom management research
• Adriana Fonseca, MD, Hospital for Sick Children
  Brigid Leventhal Special Merit Award for the top-ranking abstract in pediatric oncology (supported by the Berry family)
• Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, Hospital for Sick Children
  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)

2019 Special Merit Award recipients at the ASCO Annual Meeting. From left to right: Sarah Abou Alaiwi, MD, Po-Ju Lin, PhD, MPH, RD, Dai Chihara, MD, PhD, and Adriana Fonseca, MD (not pictured, Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD). Photo credit: © ASCO/Zach Boyden-Holmes 2019.

Below is the complete list of 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Award recipients:

• Jithma P. Abeykoon, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Iman Aboudalle, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Nour Abuhadra, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Mihaela Aldea, MD, PhD, Institut Gustave Roussy
• Mansour Alfayez, MD, MS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Kartik Anand, MBBS, Houston Methodist Cancer Center
• Avani Athauda, MBBS, The Royal Marsden Hospital
• Florence Atrafi, MD, MSc, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute
• Dilip Sankar Babu, MD, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Marco Bandini, MD, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University
• Francesca Battaglin, MD, University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine
• Jacob E. Berchuck, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• David Alan Bond, MD, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Maria Alessandra Calegari, MD, Oncologia Medica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli,” IRCCS
• Kamal Chamoun, MD, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center
• Bhavana Sree Vangara Chapman, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Fo-Ping Chen, PhD, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
• Kelly Sharon Chien, MD, BS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Mudit Chowdhary, MD, Rush University Medical Center
• Julie Marie Collins, MD, MPH, National Cancer Institute
• Vincenza Conteduca, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Colleen Ann Cuthbert, PhD, University of Calgary
• Antonio Di Meglio,MD, Institut Gustave Roussy
• Brunella Di Stefano, MD, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli-IRCCS-UOC Oncologia Medica
• Nazli Dizman, MD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Lawson Eng, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Kelly Faulk, MD, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Roberto Ferrara, MD, Fondazione IRCCS-Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori
• Jason Frankel, MD, Virginia Mason Medical Center
• Ehsan Ghorani, MBBS, University College London Cancer Institute
• Smith Giri, MBBS, Yale School of Medicine
• Ashley Graul, MD, University of Pennsylvania
• Andrew W. Hahn, MD, University of Utah Hunstman Cancer Institute
• Anis Hamid, MBBS, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Ross Harrison, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Caroline Hesko, MD, MPH, BS, University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital
• Joshua Dean Horton, MD, Medical University of South Carolina
• Marco Adelmo James Iafolla, MD, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Vikram Jairam, MD, Yale University School of Medicine
• Emre Koca, MD, Houston Methodist Hospital
• Igal Kushnir, MD, Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre
• Alessandro Leal, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Kah Poh Loh,MBBCh, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Jelena Lukovic, MD, MPH, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Jia-Wei Lv, MD, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
• Eoghan Ruadh Malone,MBBCh, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
• Hiren A. Mandaliya, MD, MBBS, FRACP, Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital
• Federica Marmorino, MD, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana
• Deborah Catherine Marshall, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Jingjing Miao, MSc, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center of Cancer Medicine
• Orli Michaeli, MD, Hospital for Sick Children
• Arjun Mittra, MBBS, National Cancer Institute
• Leslie A. Modlin, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Sebastián Mondaca, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Maliha Nusrat, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Kaushal Parikh, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Woochan Park, MD, Seoul National University Hospital
• Javier Pascual, MD, Royal Marsden Hospital and The Institute of Cancer Research
• Ranjan Pathak, MBBS, Yale School of Medicine
• Meredith Pelster, MD, MSCI, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Kirstin Perdrizet, MD, University of Toronto
• Isabel Pimentel, MD, Mount Sinai Hospital–University of Toronto
• David James Pinato, MD, PhD, MRCP, Imperial College London
• Ines Esteves Domingues Pires Da Silva, MD, Melanoma Institute Australia
• YaoYao Guan Pollock, MD, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, San Francisco
• Pradeep Poonnen, MD, MPH, Duke University Health System/Durham VA Medical Center
• Hanneke Poort, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Prateek Prasanna, PhD, Case Western Reserve University
• Robert H. Press, MD, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
• Irbaz Bin Riaz, MBBS, MS, Mayo Clinic
• Biagio Ricciuti, MD, Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Daniel R. Richardson, MD, MA, The Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research
• Felicia Roncolato, FRACP, MBChB, PhD, Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre
• Daniele Rossini, MD, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana
• Maria M. Rubinstein, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Adam Jacob Schoenfeld, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Julia Katharina Schwarze, MD, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel
• Andreas Seeber, MD, PhD, Innsbruck Medical University
• Matthew Seidler, MD, CM, DEc, Massachusetts General Hospital
• Iris Yeong- Fung Sheng, MD, Cleveland Clinic
• Mina Shenouda, MBBch, Marshall University
• Ramila Shilpakar, MD, NAMS, Bir Hospital
• Mahran Shoukier, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Surbhi Sidana, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Marissa K. Srour, MD, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Tessa Gerjanne Steenbruggen, MD, The Netherlands Cancer Institute
• Paul Stewart, MBBS, Western University, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry
• Paolo Strati, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Ryuma Tokunaga, MD, PhD, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine
• Panagiotis J. Vlachostergios, MD, PhD, Weill Cornell Medical College & NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
• Yucai Wang, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic
• Yuefeng Wang, MD,DPhil, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center
• AnnaLynn Williams, PhD, University of Rochester Medical Center
• Jason Willis, MD, PhD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Juliet Elizabeth Wolford, MD, University of California, Irvine
• Michael H. Xiang, MD, PhD, Stanford University
• Hao Xie, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic
• Yuan Xu, MD, PhD, University of Calgary
• Siddhartha Yadav, MD,FACP, Mayo Clinic
• Yunfang Yu, MD, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital
• Saurabh Zanwar, MBBS, MD, Mayo Clinic
• Gemma Zucchelli, MD, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Pisana

Arti Hurria Merit Award in Geriatric Oncology

• Ethan B. Ludmir, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

ASCO Employee Endowed Merit Award

• Narjust Duma, MD, Mayo Clinic

Dr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Blayney Endowed Merit Award

• Sam Brondfield, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Bristol-Myers Squibb Endowed Merit Award

• Hind Rafei, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Bristol-Myers Squibb Endowed Merit Award

• Jay Y. Spiegel, MD, FRCPC, Stanford University

Bristol-Myers Squibb Endowed Merit Award

• Natalie Vokes MD, MPhil, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Jonathan K. Cho, MD, and Cora Y. Cho Endowed Merit Award

• Evan Thomas Hall, MD, MPhil, Stanford University School of Medicine

Eisai Inc. Endowed Merit Award

• Madiha Naseem, MD, USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine

Darla C. Ellis Women Who Conquer Cancer Endowed Merit Award

• Evthokia Hobbs, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Endowed Merit Award

• Stephanie Dixon, MD, BS, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Epiphany Partners Inc. Endowed Merit Award

• Stephen James Luen, MBChB, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

GlaxoSmithKline Oncology Endowed Merit Award

• Liang Huang, MD, PhD, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Howard E. Lessner, MD, Endowed Merit Award

• Zaid Abdel Rahman, MD, Mayo Clinic

Loxo Oncology Endowed Merit Award

• Alberto Puccini, MD, USC Keck School of Medicine

Loxo Oncology Endowed Merit Award

• Davis Yuri Torrejon, MD, University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center

Kathleen I. Pritchard, MD, Endowed Merit Award

• Arlindo R. Ferreira, MD, MSc, Institut Gustave Roussy

Sarah Cannon Research Institute Endowed Merit Award

• Carina N. Owen, MBBS, Melanoma Institute Australia

Frances A. Shepherd, MD, Endowed Merit Award in Lung Cancer

• Robin Guo, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Sherwin Family Endowed Merit Award

• Matteo Lambertini, MD, Policlinico San Martino Hospital–University of Genova

Sherwin Family Endowed Merit Award

• Ben O’Leary, MBBS, Royal Marsden Hospital, The Institute of Cancer Research

Sherwin Family Endowed Merit Award

• Daniel Olson, MD, University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center

Drs. Rachna and Puneet Shroff Endowed Merit Award

• Bo Zhang, MD, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College

Nizar M. Tannir, MD, Endowed Merit Award

• Alec Paschalis, MBBS, BSc, The Institute of Cancer Research. ■

Originally published in ASCO Connection. “ASCO, Conquer Cancer Congratulate 2019 Grant and Award Recipients.” ASCO Connection, July 2019. © American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved.

2019 Merit Award Supporters
Anonymous; Agios Pharmaceuticals, 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; Epiphany Partners, Inc; Estate of Darla C. Ellis; G1 Therapeutics; GlaxoSmithKline Oncology; Dr. Arti Hurria and Dr. Hyman B. Muss; Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc; Michael Kelley, MD, & Elise Hoffman, PharmD; Kidney Cancer Association; Lilly; Loxo Oncology, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company; Merck & Co, Inc; Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman; 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; Nizar M. Tannir, MD; Tesaro; and Dr. Michael and Deborah Troner.