Awards
2009 Pezcoller Foundation - ECCO Recognition for Contribution to Oncology 
2009 Awardee
In 2009, the Pezcoller-ECCO Recognition for Contribution to Oncology was presented to Doctor Françoise Meunier for her outstanding contribution as a scientific leader and mentor.
The award consisted of a prize of 30.000 Euros and a commemorative plaque and the award ceremonies were held in Rovereto (Italy), on Friday 11 September 2009 and in Berlin, during the joint ECCO 15 – 34th ESMO Multidisciplinary Congress as a Plenary Lecture delivered during the Presidential Session of Tuesday 22 September 2009.
 | | Francoise Meunier, Director General of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, received her medical degree (1974, summa cum laude) from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and completed her research fellowship at the memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York in 1977-1978 (Fulbright award). She holds a Master’s Degree from the ULB in both Medical Oncology (1976) and Internal Medicine (1979), and earned her PhD (Agrégé de l'Enseignement Supérieur) in 1985 at the ULB. She is also certified as a Pharmaceutical Medicine specialist by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the United Kingdom as well as in Belgium and has been a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom since 1994. |
FRANCOISE MEUNIER MD, PhD, FRCP (UK)
Director General EORTC
The EORTC is a unique pan-European academic clinical research organization operating as a non-profit association under Belgian law with the mission to develop, conduct, coordinate and stimulatehigh-quality translational and clinical research to improve the standards of patient cancer care by developing innovative drugs and more effective therapeutic strategies.
Françoise Meunier has led the coordination and administration of all EORTC activities since 1991 with the mandate to promote the EORTC as a major European organisation in the field of oncology with a network of 2,500 oncologists in over 300 universities and a Headquarters staff of 160 representing 17 different nationalities. As Director General, she is responsible for the organisation of scientific activities, public relations and medium-term EORTC strategy as defined by the EORTC Board.
Before joining the EORTC in 1991, Françoise Meunier was Head of the Infectious Disease Department at the Institut Jules Bordet in Brussels, Belgium and her personal area of research included mainly Invasive Fungal Infections in Cancer Patients. She has over 150 peer-reviewed published articles and is a member of numerous international oncology scientific societies. She is a member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine (Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique) as of the year 2006.
Françoise Meunier was also awarded the Belgian Laureate “Prix Femmes d’Europe 2004-2005”.
Award Committee
- Chair: Alexander M.M. Eggermont (NL), President of ECCO - Chair
- Gios Bernardi (IT), President of the Pezcoller Foundation
- Franco Cavalli (CH), Foundation for Research and Cure of Lymphomas, Tessin
- Raffaella Giavazzi (IT), "Mario Negri" Institute for Pharmacological Research, Bergamo
- Jacques Pouyssegur (F), Institute of Signalling, Developmental Biology and Cancer Research, Nice
- Ulrik Ringborg (SE), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
Ex-officio members:
- Michel Ballieu (BE), Chief Executive Officer of ECCO
- Alberto Costa (IT), Director of ESO
About the Pezcoller Foundation
The Pezcoller Foundation was established in 1980 through a most generous donation from Professor Alessio Pezcoller, a dedicated Italian surgeon, who devoted his working life to his profession. Professor Pezcoller not only made important contributions to medicine, but through his generosity and foresight has provided his lifetime’s investment for others to do likewise.
In the past, the Pezcoller Foundation gave a biennial award for contributions to cancer and cancer-related biomedical science in collaboration with the European School of Oncology. This award was conferred to Franco Cavalli (1994), Guido Venosta (1996), and Henry Lynch (1997).
The Pezcoller Foundation-ECCO Recognition for Contribution to Oncology builds up upon this tradition.
The Pezcoller Foundation-ECCO Recognition for Contribution to Oncology is awarded every two years to a single individual for his/her unique contribution and for the dedication of his/her professional life to the improvement of cancer treatment, care and research.
Previous recipients of this prestigious award were Professor Jean-Claude Horiot (1999), Professor Umberto Veronesi (2001), Professor Hans-Jörg Senn (2003), Professor René Bernards (2005), and Professor Luigi Chieco Bianchi (2007).
ECCO – the European CanCer Organisation Lifetime Achievement Award
2009 Awardee
 | | | In 2009, the ECCO Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred to Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), AACR Chief Executive Officer(USA), in recognition of her outstanding contribution to cancer research and her remarkable scientific leadership. Dr. Margaret Foti received a commemorative plaque from the ECCO President, Prof. Alexander M.M. Eggermont, during the opening session of the ECCO 15 – ESMO 34th Multidisciplinary Congress in Berlin. A native of Philadelphia, Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), earned a master’s degree and doctorate in communications from Temple University in Philadelphia. |
MARGARET FOTI Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.)
C. E. O. AACR
Foti’s graduate education and training focused on scientific communications, especially communications research, scientific publishing and information science.
At the AACR, Foti progressed through several key management roles in scientific publishing to become CEO in 1982. Working collaboratively with the elected officers of the AACR, she has provided the corporate knowledge and continuity of leadership that has been critical to the association’s progress and its mission to prevent and cure cancer. During Foti’s tenure, the AACR’s membership has grown from 3.000 to 28.000 scientists residing in nearly 90 countries.
Among her many professional activities, Foti serves as a board member and is a past president of the National Coalition for Cancer Research. She is also a member of the Melanoma International Foundation board of directors, a member of the executive committee and board of Friends of Cancer Research, a board member of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, a medical advisory board member of the Prevent Cancer Foundation, a council member of the Council of the European Association for Cancer Research, a member of the Wellness Leadership Council, a strategic advisory panel member of the International Union Against Cancer, a scientific advisory board member of the King Hussein Biotechnology and Cancer Institute, a member of the 2009 National Advisory Committee for the Review of Cancer and National Health Reform Legislation at George Washington University Medical Center and an external advisory board member for the University of Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research and NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award Program. She has served in various capacities for numerous associations and societies related to cancer and scientific publishing. Additionally, Foti has led the AACR as the scientific partner in the Stand Up To Cancer national initiative.
Foti has received many national and international awards for her contributions to cancer research. For her work, Foti has also been awarded honorary memberships in the Japanese Cancer Association and the European Association for Cancer Research, as well as an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 2003. She received a second Honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Catania in Sicily in July 2008 and a third honorary Doctorate in Medicine from the University of San Pablo CEU in June 2009.
About the ECCO Lifetime Achievement Award
The ECCO Award for Lifetime Achievement was established by the ECCO Board of Directors in early 2009, awarded for the first time at the ECCO 15- ESMO 34th Multidisciplinary Congress, Berlin, in 2009.
The award honours individuals who has made an outstanding contribution to the fight against cancer, by impacting the cancer field or the cancer professional community, and by demonstrating a lifetime commitment to progress against cancer.
Nominations for the ECCO Award for Lifetime Achievement are accepted for individual candidates irrespective of race, sex, nationality, or religious/political views. Institutions, groups or associations are not eligible.
Nominations can be made by any individual member of any ECCO member society. Candidates cannot nominate themselves. Nominations can be sent to the ECCO office or to any ECCO Board member, before April 1 of each non-even year. The awardee is selected by the ECCO Board of Directors.
The recipient, who must be present to receive the Award (unless otherwise unable to do so because of health restrictions or other serious conflicts), receives a commemorative plaque, and financial support to attend the biennial joint ECCO-ESMO congress.
ECCO - the European CanCer Organisation Clinical Research Award
The ECCO Clinical Research Award is conferred in recognition of an outstanding international contribution to the integration of scientific research and clinical practice in the field of cancer.
In 2009, ECCO confered 2 Clinical Research Awards, to Professor Martine Piccart (Belgium) and to Professor R.J. Heald (UK). Both awards were presented by Professor Alexander M.M. Eggermont during a Presidential session at the joint ECCO 15 – ESMO 34th Multidisciplinary Congress in Berlin.
.jpg) | | Martine J. Piccart, M.D., Ph.D, is Professor of Oncology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and Director of the Medicine Department at the Institut Jules Bordet, in Brussels, Belgium. Dr. Piccart earned her M.D. and Ph.D. at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, and received her oncology qualifications in New York and London. She is a member of the ‘Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique’. |
MARTINE J. PICCART MD, PhD
Director at the Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels
With a primary interest in breast cancer and drug development, Dr. Piccart has a genuine interest for international research collaborations, and is the principal or co-principal investigator of many clinical trials, including HERA, MINDACT, and ALTTO. She is co-founder and chair of the Brussels-based Breast International Group (BIG), created in 1996 to facilitate international breast cancer clinical trials, and TRANSBIG, a European Commission supported translational research consortium to complement BIG’s clinical research network. BIG brings together 41 collaborative groups from around the world and has over 30 trials under its umbrella; TRANSBIG represents 39 institutions in 21 countries.
Professor Piccart is an active member of many professional organisations, currently serving on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Board and as president of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).
She is author or co-author of more than 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and has received numerous prestigious awards for her contribution to research in oncology, including the ESMO Award for Exceptional Contribution to the Advancement of Medical Oncology in Europe (1997), a ‘Jacqueline Seroussi Memorial Foundation for Cancer Research Award’ for ‘International leadership in translational and clinical research that has improved treatment outcomes for women with early stage and advanced breast cancer’ (2005), the 14th Claude Jacquillat Award for achievements in clinical oncology (2006) and the ESMO-GSK Lifetime Achievement Award in Breast Cancer Research (to the Breast International Group in 2006). She was awarded the ‘Miami Breast Cancer Conference Award of Excellence for 2007’ and will receive the Jill Rose Award for distinguished biomedical research at the 2009 BCRF Symposium in New York.
 | | Bill Heald OBE, M.Chir., FRCS is Professor of Surgery at the North Hampshire Hospital and Surgical Director of the Pelican Cancer Centre, Basingstroke . His main interest for the past 20 years has been the research and development of the total mesorectal excision (TME) technique for rectal cancer. |
BILL HEALD OBE M.Chir., FRCS
Surgical Director of the Pelican Cancer Centre, Basingstrok
TME has become the new gold standard for the treatment of bowel cancer – improving cure rates and reducing local recurrence. The technique was developed by Professor Heald at the North Hampshire Hospital, and is now being adopted across the country by surgeons who attend interactive workshops which are held at the Pelican Centre. Professor Heald’s expertise has been recognized throughout the world. He was recipient of the Gold Medal in Surgery from the Association of Surgery of the Netherlands , the Bengt Ihre Silver Medal from the Swedish Medical Society and the Cancer Bacup Award for Clinically Relevant Cancer Research.
Prof. Heald is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland . He is an elected member of council and has been vice president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He holds a Personal Chair at the University of Southampton and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Linkoping, Sweden. He was formerly President of the Coloproctology and Surgery sections of the Royal Society of Medicine. Professor Heald has been recognized throughout Europe with Honorary Professorships and Fellowships.
Prof. Heald and Mr Brendan Moran have conducted hundreds of TV-based operation demonstrations and practical workshops.
Previous recipients of this award have been E. van der Schueren , K. Lundhom, H. zur Hausen, G. Bonadonna, M. Overgaard, L. Pahlman, P. Kleihues, P. Isaacson, R. Peto and C. van de Velde.
ECCO 15 - ESMO 34: Educational Awards
A number of educational awards were provided to clinicians and nurses who are not involved in research, to attend ECCO 15 – ESMO 34.
The ECCO 15 – ESMO 34 Organising Committee selected the recipients of the Educational Awards.
Page last modified: 12 Nov 2009