News

AACI will present the 2023 Public Service Awards to U.S. Representative Neal Dunn (R-FL) and U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on Monday, October 2, during the 2023 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting at the Salamander Washington DC. 

In addition to supporting cancer centers in Florida and Minnesota respectively, Rep. Dunn and Sen. Klobuchar have championed increases in cancer research funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). They were nominated by AACI members and selected by the AACI Board of Directors.  

Rep. Dunn is a urologist and has treated hundreds of patients with cancer as a U.S. Army doctor. In Congress, he introduced the Veterans Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act and the Prostate Cancer Prevention Act; he has also co-sponsored several AACI-endorsed bills, including the Lymphedema Treatment Act, the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, the Safe Step Act, the Reducing Hereditary Cancer Act, and the Removing Barrier to Colorectal Screening Act. 

Sen. Klobuchar has been a strong and consistent advocate for the NIH and biomedical research, especially during Congress’s annual appropriations process. She has consistently highlighted the important role that the NIH plays in funding biomedical research at institutions across the nation that are engaged in human discovery science and health and healing.
 
Sen. Klobuchar’s advocacy for cancer research, access to cancer screening, and care for all people has been strengthened through her own diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer. She has used her personal experience as an opportunity to highlight the importance of preventive health care services, which many Americans had delayed or forgone during the COVID-19 pandemic. With a bipartisan group of senators, she introduced the Preventive Care Awareness Act to promote and increase appropriate utilization of preventive care services. 

Sen. Klobuchar has also co-sponsored the following AACI-endorsed bills: Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act (lead sponsor), Cancer Drug Parity Act, DIVERSE Trials Act, Lymphedema Treatment Act, Removing Barriers to Colorectal Screening Act, and the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act.

AACI established the Public Service Award in 2003 to recognize public servants for their support of the NIH, the NCI, and cancer centers in their respective states. Past recipients of the award include Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Representative Tom Cole (R-OK), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), Representative Fred Upton (R-MI), and Representative Kathy Castor (D-FL).