The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) presented the inaugural Jeffery C. Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award to the Pennsylvania Society of Oncology and Hematology at the State Affiliates’ Reception during ASCO’s Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The Jeffery C. Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award recognizes state affiliates that cultivated a strong partnership with ASCO in an effort to advance shared advocacy priorities at both the state and federal levels. The advocacy issues facing ASCO and the State Affiliates have increased in complexity, controversy, and breadth over the last several years, making the partnerships more crucial than ever. The collaboration can be seen in state affiliates encouraging their members to use the ACT Network, affiliate leadership attending ASCO’s Advocacy Summit, as well as recruiting additional Summit attendees, joining sign-on letters, amplifying ASCO’s messages on social media, and hosting ASCO advocacy speakers at state society meetings, just to name a few examples.
This new award will be presented annually to honor the legacy of Dr. Jeffery C. Ward, who was instrumental in establishing the State Affiliate Council in 2012 and highly engaged in advocacy at both the state and federal levels as the leader of the Washington State Medical Oncology Society.
The Jeffery C. Ward Affiliate Advocacy award recognizes three affiliates as an honorable mention, a runner-up, and the awardee.
This year’s awardee is the Pennsylvania Society of Oncology and Hematology, which in 2022 partnered with ASCO on numerous advocacy activities to help advance cancer care policy at the federal and state level. Not only did this society regularly encourage its members to take action via the ACT Network, but they were also well represented at the Advocacy Summit, joined multiple sign-on letters, and amplified ASCO’s advocacy efforts on social media.
Additionally, the Northern New England Clinical Oncology Society was recognized as the runner-up, and the Washington State Medical Oncology Society as the honorable mention.
If you have any questions about the Jeffery C. Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award, please reach out to ryan.strandlund@asco.org.
