AACR CEO receives Distinguished Public Service Award

George Washington Medical Center's Cancer Institute honors Margaret Foti for leadership in the fight against cancer

PHILADELPHIA – American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.) is the 2008 recipient of the George Washington University Cancer Institute’s Distinguished Public Service Award, presented to an individual who has provided outstanding public leadership in cancer healthcare and public policy. Foti was honored during the Fifth Annual GW Cancer Institute Gala on May 3, 2008 at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award from the George Washington University Cancer Institute,” Foti said. “The cancer institute’s mission, which encompasses research, collaboration, education and community outreach is vitally important to progress against this terrible disease.”

“Dr. Foti’s contributions to cancer research are extraordinary. Through a distinguished career filled with contributions to scientific publishing, educational programs, innovative research grants and advocacy activities, her leadership has fostered significant progress in cancer research,” said Steven Patierno, Ph.D., executive director of the GW Cancer Institute.

Foti has dedicated her career to cancer research and the AACR. Progressing through several key editorial and management roles at the AACR, she was appointed to her current position of CEO in 1982 by the AACR’s board of directors. In addition, she serves as secretary-treasurer and CEO of the AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer and managing editor of Cancer Research. During Foti’s tenure, AACR membership has grown to nearly 27,000 cancer scientists residing in more than 70 countries.

In addition to serving as managing editor of Cancer Research, the most highly cited cancer journal in the world, Foti has launched five additional high-quality AACR journals: Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics;Molecular Cancer Research and Cancer Prevention Research, AACR’s most recent publication dedicated exclusively to cancer prevention. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors, patient advocates, their families, physicians, and scientists.

Among her many outside professional activities, Foti has served as a board member, and later as president of the National Coalition for Cancer Research; member of the Melanoma International Foundation board of directors; member of the executive committee of Friends of Cancer Research; and board member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce; and board member and president of the Council of Science Editors and the Society for Scholarly Publishing. She has previously served as a board member of the Translational Genomics Institute (TGen); medical advisory board member of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation; and member of the Council of the European Association for Cancer Research. She has served in various capacities for the International Federation of Science Editors, the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the European Life Science Editors Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association, among other organizations. Foti has also been a consultant to several nonprofit organizations and lectures widely at academic institutions in the United States and abroad.