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AACI Announces 2026 Award Recipients
Pictured, clockwise from top right: Dr. Rafi Ahmed, the Cattlemen's Ball of Nebraska, Dr. Lucile Adams-Campbell
AACI congratulates this year's Distinguished Scientist, Cancer Health Equity, and Champion for Cures award recipients. The awards will be presented on Monday, October 26 during the 2026 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The Distinguished Scientist Award will be presented to Rafi Ahmed, PhD, an internationally recognized immunologist whose pioneering research has profoundly shaped our understanding of immune memory and T cell exhaustion — concepts that are now foundational to cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Ahmed is director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. His research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of immunological memory and using this knowledge to develop new and more effective vaccines. He is also working to definine the mechanisms of T-cell exhaustion and develop effective immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and chronic viral infections. Dr. Ahmed is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Lucile Adams-Campbell, PhD, a cancer epidemiologist, is the recipient of the Cancer Health Equity Award. She is the founding director of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention, associate director for minority health and health disparities research, senior associate dean for community outreach and engagement, and distinguished university professor at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Adams-Campbell's research focuses on clinical trials and cancers that disproportionately impact minority and underserved populations, particularly African Americans, in the areas of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and energy balance. She has authored more than 260 peer-reviewed publications.
The Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska, Inc., will be honored with the Champion for Cures Award. Since its founding in 1998, the Cattlemen’s Ball has raised more than $21 million to support cancer research at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. Widely recognized as one of the Midwest’s premier charitable events, the ball is held in a different Nebraska community each year, allowing host communities to highlight the unique character of their region. Each June, thousands of guests gather under the big-top tents—supported by hundreds of volunteers, donors, and patrons whose lives have been touched by cancer—to participate in a truly unforgettable weekend. Funds raised by the Cattlemen’s Ball have a profound and far-reaching impact on cancer research, clinical care, and community education. Over the past decade alone, pilot awards supported by the fundraiser have helped generate preliminary data for 123 projects, leading to approximately $100 million in external grant funding.
The AACI awards program was established in 2002 with the Distinguished Scientist Award. The Champion for Cures Award was introduced in 2018, followed by the Cancer Health Equity Award in 2021.
The awards ceremony begins at 10:45 am central time on Monday, October 26, followed immediately by a Distinguished Scientist presentation by Dr. Ahmed. Registration is open for the full meeting, October 24-27, at the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.