Press Releases
ATLANTA – July 27, 2010 –John J. Stevens, MD, vice president for extramural grants, will retire from the American Cancer Society on August 2 after nearly three decades of service. Dr. Stevens received his first staff position with the Society in 1981 as a scientific program director in the Research department. After being appointed vice president for extramural grants in 1988, Dr. Stevens became responsible for managing the Society’s research and health professional training grants program. He has also overseen the Society’s peer review system, which reviews 1,700 grant applications each year for potential funding. During his time with the Society, Dr. Stevens has also held positions as a scientific program director for psychosocial and behavioral research, and for five years as interim national vice president for research.
“Since 1988, Dr. Stevens has helped the Society make an immeasurable impact on the fight against cancer, helping lead the largest not for profit, nongovernmental source of cancer research dollars in the United States, said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of the American Cancer Society. “He has overseen the awarding of close to 12,000 grants totaling about $2 billion to the best and brightest researchers and health professionals in the United States. What’s more, he has consistently ensured that the Society’s peer review process is of the highest quality, unbiased, impervious to internal and external political influence and that it fund only the best research projects and trainees.”
Dr. Stevens also initiated, developed, and expanded the Society’s targeted research program in the poor and medically underserved. The Society now awards approximately $10 million in research and training grants each year in this priority area.
“The American Cancer Society is incredibly proud of Dr. Stevens’ decades of work to save lives from cancer at home and abroad,” added Dr. Seffrin. “As he brings his long and successful career with the organization to a close, we thank him for his many years of service to our great organization and our common goal of a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”
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