ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. These distinguished awards support oncology trainees who are first authors on abstracts selected for  presentation at the ASCO Annual Meeting. This year, Conquer Cancer will recognize 125 recipients with Merit Awards at the 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting, having already awarded 33 symposia-specific Merit Awards in 2019. These oncology professionals are recognized for their respective field and research advancements within the cancer care community. 

"These Merit Awards are critical to support the research of early-career oncologists,” said Suzanne George, MD, chair of the ASCO Scientific Program Committee. “The field of oncology depends on innovation to discover new and dramatic advances across the cancer care continuum, and supporting research from the time of oncology training onward is key to establishing a foundation for a career in cancer research. It is an honor to present these awards to such a remarkable group of oncology professionals in the early years of their career, whose findings are improving the quality of care for people with cancer.”

See the complete list of 2019 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Award recipients. Special Merit Awards are presented each year to trainees and junior faculty who have the top-ranking abstracts for the ASCO Annual Meeting. The ASCO Scientific Program Committee will present five additional recipients with Special Merit Awards in their respective abstract categories:

Dai Chihara, MD, PhD, National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health

•  Receives the Bradley Stuart Beller Endowed Merit Award for the highest ranking abstract overall.
• Supported by Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller.

Sarah Abou Alaiwi, MD, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute

•  Receives the Allen S. Lichter, MD, Endowed Merit Award for the second highest-ranking abstract overall.

Po-Ju Lin, PhD, MPH, RD, University of Rochester Medical Center

•  Receives the Pain and Symptom Management Special Merit Award for the highest-ranking abstract in Pain and Symptom Management Research.

Adriana Fonseca, MD, The Hospital for Sick Children

•  Receives the Brigid Leventhal Special Merit Award for the top-ranking abstract in Pediatric Oncology. 
•  Supported by The Berry Family.

Sumit Gupta, MD, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children

• Receives the James B. Nachman Endowed ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology for the highest scoring abstract in Pediatric Oncology.
• Supported by Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman.

Supporters:

The 2019 Conquer Cancer Merit Awards are sponsored by Anonymous; Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; ASCO Employees; Association of Northern California Oncologists; AstraZeneca; Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller; The Berry Family; Dr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Blayney; Breast Cancer Research Foundation®; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Jonathan K. and Cora Y. Cho Charitable Fund; Eisai Inc.; Epiphany Partners Inc.; Estate of Darla C. Ellis; G1 Therapeutics; GlaxoSmithKline Oncology; Dr. Arti Hurria and Dr. Hyman B. Muss; Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc.; Michael Kelley, MD, & Elise Hoffman, PharmD; Kidney Cancer Association; Lilly; Loxo Oncology Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company; Merck & Co., Inc.; Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman; Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society; Dr. Kathleen Pritchard Medicine Professional Corporation; Sarah Cannon Research Institute; Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FASCO; Stephen A. Sherwin, MD; Drs. Rachna and Puneet Shroff; Nizar M. Tannir, MD; TESARO; and Dr. Michael and Deborah Troner.