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Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) will be honored with the Cancer Research Ally Award during an evenining reception on Wednesday, May 13, before the 2026 AACI/AACR Hill Day in Washington, DC. Sens. Baldwin and Capito serve as the ranking member and chair, respectively, of the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee.

Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Sen. Baldwin has served on the Senate Appropriations Committee since 2015 and has been a vocal advocate of National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding. Last year, she held a public forum, "Cures in Crisis: What Gutting NIH Research Means for Americans with Cancer, Alzheimer's, & Other Diseases," to bring awareness to cuts in medical research funding. She also spearheaded efforts to prevent the Office of Management and Budget from implementing a multi-year funding policy, which would significantly decrease the number of new research grants awarded by the NIH.

Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)

Sen. Capito is a longstanding champion of the NIH and the NCI. As chair of the LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee, she played a pivotal role in ensuring increases in NIH and NCI funding in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026, despite a nearly 40 percent proposed cut for the NIH in the president’s budget. She has served on the Senate Appropriations Committee since 2015 and helped lead the effort to increase NIH funding by $16.8 billion, or 55 percent. With Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. Capito introduced the bipartisan Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Act in 2018. The STAR Act is considered the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever passed by Congress.

The annual Cancer Research Ally Award recognizes two members of Congress (one Democrat and one Republican) for their support of and advocacy for cancer research. Past recipients are Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the late Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Fred Upton (R-MI), and Rob Wittman (R-VA); and Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Roy Blunt (R-MO).

The Cancer Research Ally Award is presented in conjunction with Hill Day, hosted jointly by AACI and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). This year's Hill Day will unite oncologists, patients, researchers, and other cancer advocates in Washington, DC on Thursday, May 14 to speak with one voice on behalf of the cancer research community.