Kathy Giusti, MMRF Founder & Chief Mission Officer, named recipient of American Association for Cancer Research Distinguished Public Service Award

Alongside Nancy Pelosi & Charles Sawyers

Kathy Giusti, MBA, Founder and Chief Mission Officer of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Co-Chair the Harvard Business School Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator; Nancy P. Pelosi (D-California), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and Charles L. Sawyers, MD, FAACR, world-renowned cancer researcher and AACR Past President, received their awards virtually at the AACR Annual Meeting 2021 on April 11, 2021. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) presented Distinguished Public Service Awards to three individuals whose extraordinary work has exemplified the AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy, advocacy, and funding for cancer research.

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Kathy Giusti (Photo: Business Wire)

“The AACR is extremely proud to present these Distinguished Public Service Awards to three highly accomplished individuals whose leadership and selfless dedication to scientific progress have helped countless cancer patients, survivors, and their families, both in the United States and around the world,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “We are grateful for their pioneering contributions to cancer research and biomedical science and look forward to celebrating them at the AACR Annual Meeting 2021.”

Of the award, Giusti commented, “I am incredibly honored - and humbled - to be the recipient of AACR’s 2021 Distinguished Public Service Award alongside exceptional leaders Nancy Pelosi & Charles Sawyers. As a 25-year cancer survivor, my life’s ambition is to speed up progress in finding ways to treat cancer – and to simplify the journey for patients and their loved ones. This award is a meaningful recognition of that and is to be shared with the Scientists, who work tirelessly to save lives and increase life expectancy. It is our duty to speed their unfinished work. There is too much hope on the horizon for us to slow down or give in.”

About the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF)

A pioneer in precision medicine, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) seeks to find a cure for all multiple myeloma patients by relentlessly pursuing innovations that accelerate the development of precision treatments for cancer. Founded in 1998 by Kathy Giusti, a multiple myeloma patient, and her twin sister Karen Andrews as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the MMRF has created the business model around cancer—from data to analytics to the clinic. The MMRF identifies barriers and then finds the solutions to overcome them, bringing in the best partners and aligning incentives in the industry to drive better outcomes for patients. Since its inception, the organization has collected thousands of samples and tissues, opened nearly 100 trials, helped bring 15 FDA-approved therapies to market, and built CoMMpass, the single largest genomic dataset for any cancer. Today, the MMRF is building on its legacy in genomics and is expanding into immunotherapy, as the combination of these two fields will be critical to making precision medicine possible for all patients. The MMRF has raised nearly $500 million and directs nearly 90% of the total funds to research and related programs. To learn more, visit www.themmrf.org.

For AACR information, visit Fast Facts.

About the American Association for Cancer Research

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world’s first and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes 48,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and patient advocates residing in 127 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 30 conferences and educational workshops—the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting, with more than 74,000 attendees for the 2020 virtual meetings and more than 22,500 attendees for past in-person meetings. In addition, the AACR publishes nine prestigious, peer-reviewed scientific journals and a magazine for cancer survivors, patients, and their caregivers. The AACR funds meritorious research directly as well as in cooperation with numerous cancer organizations. As the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer, the AACR provides expert peer review, grants administration, and scientific oversight of team science and individual investigator grants in cancer research that have the potential for near-term patient benefit. The AACR actively communicates with legislators and other policymakers about the value of cancer research and related biomedical science in saving lives from cancer. For more information about the AACR, visit www.AACR.org.

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Kathy Giusti (@KathyGiusti), Co-Chair of @HarvardHBS Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator and founder of @theMMRF is awarded the @AACR Distinguished Public Service Award alongside @SpeakerPelosi and @CharlesSawyers.