Alexandria, Va., Nov. 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Andrea McKee, M.D. and the late Brady McKee, M.D. will be honored with the James L. Mulshine, M.D., National Leadership Award on Thursday, November 3 at the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s 19th annual Quantitative Imaging Workshop. The annual Mulshine Award is given to an individual or individuals who has had a profound impact on reducing the toll of lung cancer, COPD and cardiovascular disease on the health of Americans and people around the world.
Dr. Andrea McKee will accept the award on behalf of herself and her late husband for their contributions to ensuring community hospitals and cancer centers provide equitable access to the highest quality screenings. Their program, established at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, Mass., provides screenings free of charge.
Drs. Andrea and Brady McKee were instrumental in developing the LungRADS system, a quality assurance tool to standardize lung cancer screening reporting and management recommendations, reduce confusion in lung cancer screening interpretations and facilitate outcome monitoring. They also conducted critical studies demonstrating that high quality screening is possible in a variety of health care delivery institutions. They rallied a community of professionals to the cause, including Lahey faculty and staff and other collaborators in Boston, across the nation and around the world.
“Drs. Andrea and Brady McKee have been dedicated to ensuring screening for lung cancer is not only implemented, but implemented at the highest quality available,” said Prevent Cancer Foundation Founder Carolyn “Bo” Aldigé. “Their commitment to saving lives across all populations, especially those in medically underserved communities, deserves to be recognized. We are honored to do so at this year’s workshop.”
Past recipients of the award include:
- 2021 – Mary Pasquinelli, DNP, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC – Advanced Practice Nurse, Pulmonary and Medical Oncology, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Science System for her efforts to ensure that she and the team she leads were able to bring a new service to a community that represents a critical challenge from both a health and equity perspective.
- 2020 – Daniel C. Sullivan, M.D. for his work in founding and chairing the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance (QIBA). QIBA is committed to transforming patient care by making radiology a more quantitative science.
- 2019 – Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., Former Director, National Cancer Institute, for his design, implementation and management of the largest and most expensive clinical trial in its history, the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST).
- 2018 – Sharon Y. Eubanks, U.S. Department of Justice, for her work as the lead Justice Department prosecutor in the landmark racketeering trial against Big Tobacco, a case which defied predictions and was won by the government.
- 2017 – The late John Walsh, President and CEO of the COPD Foundation and President and Founder of the Alpha One Foundation.
- 2016 – Laurie Fenton Ambrose, President and CEO of the Lung Cancer Alliance, for her efforts to guide patient advocacy groups in successful efforts to gain coverage of lung cancer screening by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
- 2015 – Claudia Henschke, Ph.D., M.D., Mt. Sinai Medical Center, as a pioneer of the use of low-dose spiral CT to screen for lung cancer.
- 2014 – CVS Health, award accepted by Nancy Gagliano, M.D., CVS Chief Medical Officer, in recognition of the company’s bold decision to discontinue the sale of tobacco products in their stores.
The 19th annual Quantitative Imaging Workshop will frame early detection of lung cancer as part of the thoracic health imaging process and a cornerstone of effective public health. The Workshop will take place November 3-4 as a hybrid event, with the award ceremony happening on November 3.
Registration for QIW will close on Wednesday, November 2. You can view a recording of the award ceremony on the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s website following the event.
For more information about the Quantitative Imaging Workshop and the award, visit the Prevent Cancer Foundation website.
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About the Prevent Cancer Foundation®
The Prevent Cancer Foundation® is the only U.S. nonprofit organization focused solely on saving lives across all populations through cancer prevention and early detection. Through research, education, outreach and advocacy, we have helped countless people avoid a cancer diagnosis or detect their cancer early enough to be successfully treated.
The Foundation is rising to meet the challenge of reducing cancer deaths by 40% by 2035. To achieve this, we are committed to investing $20 million for innovative technologies to detect cancer early and advance multi-cancer screening, $10 million to expand cancer screening and vaccination access to medically underserved communities, and $10 million to educate the public about screening and vaccination options.
For more information, please visit www.preventcancer.org.
Attachments
Kyra Meister Prevent Cancer Foundation 703-836-1746 kyra.meister@preventcancer.org
