Celgene Corporation recently announced the two recipients of Celgene’s inaugural Innovation Impact Awards: The Aplastic Anemia & Myelodysplastic Syndromes International Foundation (AA&MDSIF) and the Lung Cancer Alliance.
The Innovation Impact Awards program recognizes effective, innovative, and successful initiatives in one of two therapeutic areas: hematology or oncology. According to Celgene, the program aims to recognize the achievements of U.S.-based not-for-profit organizations addressing the needs of patients, caregivers, and health-care providers in today’s challenging health-care environment. Each award winner will receive a $100,000 cash grant and be invited to participate in an Innovation Experience workshop.
“We are delighted to announce The Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation and Lung Cancer Alliance as the recipients of our first annual Innovation Impact Awards,” said Joel W. Beetsch, PhD, Vice President of Patient Advocacy at Celgene. “Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Celgene. The Innovation Impact Awards not only recognize the significant contributions of patient and professional organizations to patient treatment and care, but also broaden the impact of the award-winning programs by helping sustain, expand, and replicate those innovative initiatives.”
Hematology Award
The Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation received the hematology Innovation Impact Award for the MDS Clinical Research Consortium. AA&MDSIF has historically been very successful in developing research approaches and solutions for patients with these blood disorders where the bone marrow fails to make healthy blood cells.
The MDS Clinical Research Consortium will work with prominent U.S. MDS research centers to optimize the research process by articulating pressing basic research questions in MDS and to identify creative, innovative, and collaborative ways to answer them. AA&MDSIF will help determine the feasibility of each approach and begin design of a major basic research initiative that will be innovative in form, structure, and function.
Oncology Award
The Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) received the oncology Innovation Impact Award for the “National Framework for Excellence in Lung Cancer Screening and Continuum of Care” initiative. LCA convened thought leaders from all fields related to lung cancer in 2012 to devise the National Framework, which has since been adopted by more than 100 medical facilities nationwide and endorsed by numerous professional societies.
Funding from the award will help support efforts to educate the at-risk public through an award winning awareness campaign, encouraging more medical facilities to adopt the National Framework and implement its best practices and guidelines, and improving and expanding lung cancer screening.
The submissions for this year’s Innovation Impact Awards represented a wide range of approaches to support the hematology and oncology communities. The Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation and Lung Cancer Alliance programs included a high level of innovation, strong vision, and plans to improve patient treatment, care, and survivorship.
The competitive Innovation Impact Awards Program was open to U.S.-based not-for-profit patient and professional organizations working in hematology or oncology. Eligible programs were those having demonstrable impact on the lives of patients, family members, caregivers, and/or the medical professionals who provide treatment and care. Those programs had to address a defined challenge faced by the target population. An independent judging panel that included innovation, health-care, and advocacy experts identified the two award recipients from a pool of applicants. For more information about the awards, visit http://www.innovationimpact.com. ■
