AACI Public Service Award

Honoring Public Servants

The AACI Public Service Award was created in 2003 to recognize public servants who are known supporters of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the cancer centers in their respective states. 

Honorees will be selected by a majority vote of the AACI Board of Directors. One Republican and one Democrat will be presented with the award during the 2023 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting at the Salamander Washington DC.

The call for nominations will be open to cancer center directors and government relations staff at the cancer centers. Eligible nominees will be considered for the award based on the following:

  • Satisfactory completion of the AACI Public Service Award nomination form
  • Description of how the nominee has supported biomedical research funding in general, and cancer research funding in particular
  • Description of how the nominee has supported the cancer center and promotes health equity

The AACI Public Service Award honorees will be selected by a majority vote of the AACI Board of Directors. One Republican and one Democrat will be presented with an award. 

The award will be presented on Monday, October 2, during the 2023 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting at the Salamander Washington DC. Recipients are encouraged to accept the award in person. 

In the event that there is no nomination or no nominee meets the award criteria, no award will be made for that cycle. 

July 5, 2023
Announce call for nominations in AACI Update

July 14, 2023
Completed nomination forms due

Summer 2023
Board president, vice president/president-elect, and cancer center director(s) of each recipient's home state will notify selected honorees

August 2023
Announce selected honorees in AACI Update

October 2, 2023
Award presented in person during the 2023 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting at the Salamander Washington DC

Please note: all dates are subject to change.

The following honorees have received the AACI Public Service Award at the AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting: 

2019
Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL)
Representative Fred Upton (R-MI)

2018
Barbara Duffy Stewart (AACI Founding Executive Director)

2017
Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)

2016
Representative Tom Cole (R-OK)
Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH)

2015
Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Representative Fred Upton (R-MI)
Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS)

2013
Representative Lois Capps (D-CA)
Representative Peter King (R-NY)

2012
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

2011
Representative Steve Israel (D-NY)
Representative C.W. Bill Young (R-FL)

2010
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

2009
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA)

2008
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)

2007
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Representative Michael Castle (R-DE)
Representative Edward Markey (D-MA)

2006
Representative John Edward Porter (R-IL)

2005
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH)

2003
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)