Press Releases

American Cancer Society Chief Medical Officer listed among NBC's TheGrio List of 100 African Americans Making History
Feb 23, 2010

ATLANTA 2010/02/23 -Otis W. Brawley, M.D, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, the nation’s largest voluntary health organization, has been named as one of 100 African Americans making history and is listed alongside such names as media mogul Oprah Winfrey; artist and humanitarian Wyclef Jean; and supermodel and TV personality Tyra Banks. TheGrio, NBC’s African American news portal, compiled a list of “100 History Makers in the Making” in honor of this February’s black history month. The full article is available here: http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/thegrios-100/thegrios-100-otis-brawley.php

 In the article, Dr. Brawley is noted as a leader in the field of cancer research, especially in the area of cancer disparities. His work in breast cancer and health disparities research is applauded, and his expertise and straight-talk celebrated by many of his colleagues.

 

“The American Cancer Society is extremely proud of Dr. Brawley for making TheGrio’s list of 100 leading African Americans who are making history,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. “We saw Dr. Brawley’s outstanding leadership qualities when we recruited him three years ago, and we are lucky to have him leading our fight to eliminate cancer disparities in all communities in order to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”

 

As the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, Dr. Brawley champions efforts to decrease smoking, improve diet, detect cancer at the earliest stage, and provide the critical support cancer patients need. Further, as an acknowledged global leader in the field of health disparities research, Dr. Brawley is a key leader in the Society’s work to eliminate disparities in access to quality cancer care.

 

Dr. Brawley is a member of the American College of Physicians, the National Medical Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Clinical Research. He has received numerous awards throughout his career, including in 2006 the U.S. Public Health Service Crisis Response Service Award, the U.S. Public Health Service Distinguished Service Commendation and the Key to St. Bernard Parish for his work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Brawley currently serves as chair of the National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel on the treatment of Sickle Cell Anemia, and as a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection and Control Advisory Committee. He previously served as a volunteer member of the American Cancer Society’s Prostate Cancer Committee and as a co-chair of the Surgeon Generals Task Force on Cancer Health Disparities. He has published extensively in medical journals and has served in editorial roles for Contemporary Oncology, Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention, the British Journal of Urology and Cure.

 

According to TheGrio.com, TheGrio “is the first video-centric news community site devoted to providing African Americans with stories that appeal to them but are underrepresented in existing news outlets.”

 

About the American Cancer Society

 

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing about $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, about 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

 

 

 

Busola Afolabi

Media Relations Manager

American Cancer Society

404-417-5894

busola.afolabi@cancer.org