AACI Public Service Award
Honoring Public Servants
The AACI Public Service Award was created in 2003 to recognize public servants who are known supporters of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the cancer centers in their respective states. The award is presented at the AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in years when the meeting is held in Washington, DC.
2025 Recipient Spotlight
Senator Katie Britt (R-AL)
Senator Katie Britt has emerged as a leading advocate for medical research funding, with a particular focus on advancing cancer research and innovation. She has supported increased investments in Alabama’s major research institutions, including the UAB O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. Senator Britt has introduced bipartisan legislation to increase access to breast cancer screenings. She recently led a letter to the Office of Management and Budget, co-signed by 13 Senate colleagues, urging the timely release of fiscal year 2025 NIH funds to ensure lifesaving cancer and biomedical research can move forward without disruption. She has also supported increases in NIH funding as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX)
Representative Joaquin Castro is a cancer survivor who has been treated for neuroendocrine cancer since his 2023 diagnosis. In Congress, he has co-sponsored key cancer-related legislation, including the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act and the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. Representative Castro has been a strong advocate for cancer research and health equity, particularly among Latino communities, supporting UT Health San Antonio’s Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos conference and securing millions in Community Project Funding grants for the Mays Cancer Center and UT Health San Antonio to expand their research capacity and improve public health.
The 2025 AACI Public Service Award will be presented on Monday, October 20, during the 2025 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
During years when the AACI Public Service Award is presented, a call for nominations will be open to cancer center directors and government relations staff at the cancer centers. Eligible nominees will be considered for the award based on the following:
- Satisfactory completion of the AACI Public Service Award nomination form
- Description of how the nominee has supported biomedical research funding in general, and cancer research funding in particular
- Description of how the nominee has supported the cancer center and promotes health equity
The AACI Public Service Award is presented to one Republican and one Democrat in the years that the AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting is held in Washington, DC. Recipients are encouraged to accept the award in person.
Honorees are selected by a majority vote of the AACI Board of Directors. In the event that there is no nomination or no nominee meets the award criteria, no award will be made for that cycle.
August 1, 2025
Completed nomination forms due
Summer 2025
Board president, vice president/president-elect, and/or cancer center director(s) of each recipient's home state will notify selected honorees
September 2025
Selected honorees announced in AACI Update
October 2025
Award presented in person during the 2025 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting at the Salamander Washington DC
Please note: all dates are subject to change.
The following honorees have received the AACI Public Service Award at the AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting:
2023
Representative Neal Dunn (R-FL)
Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL)
Representative Fred Upton (R-MI)
2018
Barbara Duffy Stewart (AACI Founding Executive Director)
2017
Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA)
2016
Representative Tom Cole (R-OK)
Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
2015
Representative Diana DeGette (D-CO)
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)
Representative Fred Upton (R-MI)
Representative Kevin Yoder (R-KS)
2013
Representative Lois Capps (D-CA)
Representative Peter King (R-NY)
2012
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
2011
Representative Steve Israel (D-NY)
Representative C.W. Bill Young (R-FL)
2010
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
2009
Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA)
2008
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
2007
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Representative Michael Castle (R-DE)
Representative Edward Markey (D-MA)
2006
Representative John Edward Porter (R-IL)
2005
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Representative Deborah Pryce (R-OH)
2003
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)