News Release

AACR honors scientific work and mentorship of Dr. Lucile Adams-Campb

Adams-Campbell to receive 2015 AACR Minorities in Cancer Research Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship

Grant and Award Announcement

American Association for Cancer Research

PHILADELPHIA -- Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, PhD, professor of oncology, associate director of minority health and disparities research, and associate dean of community health and outreach at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., is being honored with the 10th annual American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship at the AACR Annual Meeting 2015, to be held in Philadelphia, April 18-22.

Adams-Campbell is being recognized for her scientific contributions in the area of cancer epidemiology and health disparities, which have the potential to influence cancer care nationally and internationally, and for her dedication to fostering the development of minorities in cancer research.

She will present her lecture, "A Prospective Approach to Breast Cancer Risk in Black Women: A View from Two Cohorts - WHI and BWHS," Sunday, April 19, 3:15 p.m. ET, in the Terrace Ballroom II/III of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The AACR-MICR Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship was established in 2006 to give recognition to an outstanding scientist who has made meritorious contributions to the field of cancer research and who has, through leadership or by example, furthered the advancement of minority investigators in cancer research.

"It is truly an honor to receive this lectureship in the name of Jane Cooke Wright, a pioneer and role model for all women and African-Americans in the field of medicine," Adams-Campbell said.

Adams-Campbell is known for her important contributions to the field of epidemiology. Her research focus has been diseases that disproportionately affect African Americans, including breast, prostate, and colon cancers, and identifying ways to overcome health disparities through disease prevention. She leads the National Institute of Minority Health and Disparities Center of Excellence for Health Disparities. She also is the co-principal investigator of the Black Women's Health Study, which led to the identification of obesity, diet, and physical inactivity as factors influencing risk for diseases disproportionately affecting African-American women such as cancer, lupus, high blood pressure, and diabetes, as well as served as co-principal investigator of the Women's Health Initiative. Additionally, Adams-Campbell served as principal investigator the National Cancer Institute's Minority Based Community Oncology Program, which was implemented to improve the number of black participants in clinical trials. Her research is inclusive of clinical trials, cancer epidemiology and etiology, and lifestyle interventions.

In 1983, Adams-Campbell became the first African-American woman in the country to receive a doctorate in epidemiology, when she received hers from the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh.

A member of the AACR since 1995, Adams-Campbell has been involved in numerous committees, including the Women in Cancer Research (WICR) Council, of which she is currently a member, and the Cancer Prevention Research editorial board. She has also served as chair of the MICR Council and Minority Issues Committee, and as a mentor in the Scientist?Survivor Program and WICR career program. Her work was also recognized in 2010 with the AACR Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award.

Adams-Campbell is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine and has received gold medallions from both of her alma maters, Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Before joining the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2008, Adams-Campbell was director of Howard University Cancer Center. She is also a visiting professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, adjunct professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, and adjunct professor of medical and clinical psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.

This lectureship is named in honor of Jane Cooke Wright, MD, a pioneer in clinical cancer chemotherapy and an exceptional scientist who has made important contributions to research in this field, and who passed away in 2013 at the age of 93. Wright, a member of the AACR since 1954, became the highest ranking black woman at a nationally recognized medical institution in 1967, at a time when there were only a few hundred black, female physicians in the United States. She attended the AACR Annual Meeting each year since the lectureship's establishment in order to provide opening remarks and introduce the year's lecturer. She was elected into the inaugural class of fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013. For more information on Wright, please visit http://www.aacr.org/JCW_Memoriam.

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About the American Association for Cancer Research

Founded in 1907, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. AACR membership includes more than 35,000 laboratory, translational, and clinical researchers; population scientists; other health care professionals; and cancer advocates residing in 101 countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise of the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, biology, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer by annually convening more than 25 conferences and educational workshops, the largest of which is the AACR Annual Meeting with over 18,500 attendees. In addition, the AACR publishes eight 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 http://www.AACR.org.


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