Press Releases

ATLANTA —April 25, 2012—Eleven outstanding cancer care providers including several oncologists and nurses, a hospice volunteer and a treatment navigator have been chosen to receive the 2012 American Cancer Society Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award, a prestigious national prize for cancer caregiving. The Lane W. Adams Quality of Life Award recognizes individuals who have made a difference through innovation, leadership, and consistent excellence in providing compassionate, skilled care and counsel to persons living with cancer and their families.

“Going above and beyond the call of duty to extend the ‘warm hand of service’ to cancer patients is part of the extraordinary character these individuals demonstrate,” said W. Phil Evans, M.D., F.A.C.R., president of the American Cancer Society. “These extraordinary awardees deserve to be recognized, and are critical to helping the American Cancer Society save lives from cancer.”

The awards will be presented in a ceremony in Dallas, Texas on Thursday, May 3, 2012. This year, the Society honors:

• Denise Braden, O.T.R.L., C.L.T.-L.A.N.A., certified lymphedema therapist, Mercy Memorial Hospital Rehabilitation Center, Monroe, Mich. Ms. Braden created the lymphedema program at the rehabilitation center where she worked in 1997, and continues to ensure that each patient she interacts with receives the highest quality of care possible. She is known for her compassionate nature with cancer patients.
• Jose A. Cangiano, M.D., hematologist/oncologist, private practice, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Known as a doctor who understands the importance of treating a patient as a human being, Dr. Cangiano cares deeply for his patients. Dr. Cangiano started the “De Cara a la Vida” Foundation with his wife Dr. Limaris Laboy in 2010, which raises funds to help cancer patients with co-pays and non-insured radiological studies. He is also the founder and drummer of the music band “Cura,” which performs at American Cancer Society activities and fundraising activities, to give joy and hope to cancer patients and their families.
• Frannie B. Concaugh, R.N., registered nurse, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Fla. Ms. Concaugh is known for her passion for patient advocacy, and she was awarded Oncology Nurse of the Year at her hospital in 2010. She has been an active volunteer with the American Cancer Society since 2008, and her role in cancer care now focuses on disease prevention and education. 
• Nancy Daley, cancer concierge and hospice volunteer, Emanuel Cancer Center, Turlock, Calif. With a background in early childhood education, Ms. Daley taught kindergarten for twelve years and then met a young girl with leukemia.  Through working with this young girl, Ms. Daley envisioned a program for children undergoing cancer treatment that would include individual and group support through art, games, and literature. This vision came to fruition with the creation of “Monkey Business” - an eight-week support group for kids between the ages of five and thirteen who have a loved one with cancer.
• Susan R. Glaser, L.C.S.W., senior clinical social worker, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, N.Y.  Ms. Glaser has worked as a medical and clinical social worker for 30 years, and truly loves providing a safe place where patients and families can seek support around their many concerns with a cancer diagnosis. She is currently working to create a psychosocial needs assessment of women with metastatic breast cancer, and hopes to further develop a hospital-wide support and educational program for advanced cancer patients. 
• Warner K. Huh, M.D., chair, O.B./G.Y.N. oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala. Dr. Huh’s research interests include vaccines for cervical neoplasia, in vivo spectroscopy for cervical neoplasia, and treatment approaches for endometrial cancer. He has been named in the Best Doctors in AmericaÒ database and has received numerous awards for his clinical care, teaching and research accomplishments including the 2009 Society of Gynecologic Oncologists Presidential Award and the American Cancer Society Lifesaver Award.
• Tricia Julian, R.N., B.S.N., O.C.N., oncology education coordinator, Fairmont General Hospital, Fairmont, W. Va. A certified oncology nurse for over 23 years, Ms. Julian is a champion for end-of- life care and a strong advocate for promoting declaration of advance directives in all patients. She tries to impact patients positively on every level.
• Eric S. Sandler, M.D., division chief, hematology and oncology, Nemours Children’s Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. Dr. Sandler has served as the founding chair of the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium, and has coordinated several national research studies and authored over 50 publications in various aspects of pediatric cancer and blood disorders. Dr. Sandler has also been the parent of a child with leukemia and an oncology physician at the same time,  and he believes that it is critically important to not only cure children with cancer, but to prevent long-term side effects, to control pain, and to keep life as normal as possible during the cancer journey. 
• Gloria Lita Smith, M.S., R.N., A.C.N.P., nurse practitioner, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Mich. After watching her mother battle breast cancer for ten years, Ms. Smith gained an interest in medicine and helping people. She now helps patients and their families through their entire breast cancer journey, and she is also committed to fundraising for breast cancer research and education.
• Angela Plette Taber, M.D., medical oncologist, Lifespan –The Miriam Hospital, Providence, R.I. Dr. Taber’s clinical interests include lung cancer, genitourinary malignancies, head and neck cancer, and palliative care.  Her sister Danielle was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, when she was 19 years old, and she lost her battle with cancer at just 26. This experience shifted Dr .Taber’s focus from not only wanting to understand the disease, but to wanting to improve the whole experience of cancer treatment for patients and their families.
• Valarie C. Worthy, R.N., B.S.N., treatment navigator, Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, North Carolina. Ms. Worthy is a 13-year breast cancer survivor and understands the importance of good health. In 2003, along with five breast cancer survivors, she organized the local chapter of Sisters Network, Inc., a survivorship organization for African American women with breast cancer. Additionally, Ms. Worthy is an active member of the American Cancer Society’s Leadership Council at Duke.

The Society has recognized cancer caregivers through the Lane Adams Quality of Life Award since 1988. The awards advisory group includes longtime national Society volunteers, including Vicki Adams Quan, the daughter of Lane W. Adams, the former executive vice president of the Society who coined the term the “warm hand of service” and made attention to compassionate care a legacy of his service.

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end cancer for good. As a global grassroots force of three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping you stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early, helping you get well by being there for you during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery and fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.8 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 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 anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.