Mary Pasquinelli, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, was the recipient of this year’s James L. Mulshine, MD, National Leadership Award presented during the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Quantitative Imaging Workshop held virtually earlier in November. Dr. Pasquinelli is a nurse practitioner in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep, and Allergy at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Science System. She specializes in lung cancer and lung cancer screening as well as pulmonary nodule management.
Mary Pasquinelli, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC
James L. Mulshine, MD
Dr. Pasquinelli was acknowledged for her work in starting and sustaining a lung cancer screening program at a federally qualified health center on the west side of Chicago. She has had a series of highly regarded publications on her team’s screening activities, with a deep interest in overcoming health disparities with the implementation of lung cancer screening.
The leadership award is named for James L. Mulshine, MD, of Rush University School of Medicine in Chicago. Claudia Henschke, PhD, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, in New York, presented Dr. Pasquinelli with the award.
Beginning in 2013, each year at the Workshop, the Prevent Cancer Foundation presents the James L. Mulshine, MD, National Leadership Award to an individual who has had a profound impact on reducing the toll that lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cardiovascular disease take on the health of Americans and individuals around the world. Dr. Mulshine is Scientific Director of the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College.
Since 2004, the Quantitative Imaging Workshop focuses on the advancement of quantitative low-dose computed tomography (CT) imaging biomarkers for detection and management of early thoracic disease—lung cancer, COPD, and cardiovascular disease—three of the top four leading causes of death in the United States.
Past recipients of the James L. Mulshine, MD, award include:
2020: Daniel C. Sullivan, MD, for his work in founding and chairing the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA). QIBA is committed to transforming patient care by making radiology a more quantitative science.
2019: Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, Director, National Cancer Institute, for his design, implementation, and management of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST)
2018: Sharon Y. Eubanks, of the U.S. Department of Justice, for her work as the lead Justice Department prosecutor in the landmark racketeering trial against Big Tobacco
2017: The late John Walsh, President and Chief Executive Officer of the COPD Foundation and President and Founder of the Alpha One Foundation
2016: Laurie Fenton Ambrose, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lung Cancer Alliance, for her efforts to guide patient advocacy groups in successful efforts to gain coverage of lung cancer screening by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
2015: Claudia Henschke, PhD, MD, of Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, as a pioneer in the use of low-dose spiral CT to screen for lung cancer
2014: CVS Health, award accepted by Nancy Gagliano, MD, CVS Chief Medical Officer, in recognition of the company’s bold decision to discontinue the sale of tobacco products in its stores
2013: Cheryl G. Healton, PhD, President and Chief Executive Office, Legacy Foundation and Dean of the College of Public Health at New York University, in recognition of more than 25 years of work in public health, specifically on tobacco control.
For more information, visit preventcancer.org.
