Biden Cancer Initiative Recognizes Exemplary Individuals and Organizations With First-Ever FIERCE Awards

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Biden Cancer Initiative today announced its inaugural FIERCE Awards Roster ? a total of 10 individuals and organizations who have been recognized for having made a transformative impact on the lives of cancer patients.

After a thorough review process of the more than 700 nominations, the following awardees will be spotlighted at the Biden Cancer Summit Welcome Reception on Sept. 20:

CANCER FIERCE AWARDS

• Prevention and early detection focuses on efforts to raise awareness and reach of effective prevention and early detection strategies and/or the development of more advanced prevention and screening tools. 
• Janet McKiernan R.N., N.P. for implementing screening and early detection initiatives to prevent head and neck cancer over the course of more than four decades.
• American Lung Association's "Saved By The Scan" for its comprehensive public awareness campaign resulting in increased lung cancer screening rates.

• Reducing cancer disparities highlights efforts focused on ensuring effective cancer care and research efforts are inclusive and accessible to all, particularly underserved communities.
• Lorna Haughton McNeill, Ph.D., MPH for launching Project CHURCH, an effort to reach African American communities and engage them in cancer prevention and research.
• St. Jude Global for creating a global health system ensuring that children with cancer have access to quality care and treatment no matter where they live.

• Patient navigation spotlights efforts that effectively help cancer patients and their caregivers find their way through the complicated and confusing maze that is the cancer journey.
• Cynthia Cantril, RN, MPH, OCN, CBCN for demonstrating what it means to be an oncology nurse navigator and creating a system-wide approach to cancer services.
• Angel Flight West for transporting cancer patients and their families to receive the care they need by arranging donated flights.

• Survivorship looks to those whose work helps the patient through the social-emotional, financial, and/or medical impacts of surviving cancer. 
• Dr. Ernie Bodai for convincing Congress and the U.S. Postal Service to issue the Breast Cancer Research Stamp to support breast cancer research and for his leadership in survivorship to improve health and lower risk of recurrence of breast cancer.
• The STAR Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University for its research-based surveillance and follow-up care for adult survivors of childhood cancer.

• LEAP (Leadership through Exemplary and Awesome Purpose) award recognizes exceptional efforts that transform the way we approach cancer research and care, that improve patient support and patient outcomes, or that accelerate progress against cancer.
• Justine, Tristan and Camille Almada for fundamentally improving the cancer experience for patients with HPV and anal cancer by creating education, awareness, and research initiatives.
• Let's Win! Pancreatic Cancer Foundation for creating a crowdsourcing platform that mobilizes doctors, researchers and patients to share clinical information on promising pancreatic treatments and trials.

About the Biden Cancer Initiative

The Biden Cancer Initiative is an independent nonprofit organization developing and driving the implementation of solutions to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, research, and care, and to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes. For more information, visit www.bidencancer.org

SOURCE Biden Cancer Initiative