APRIL 30, 2013 – WASHINGTON, DC — Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) is proud to honor Ms. Sherry Lansing with the inaugural Ellen V. Sigal Advocacy Leadership Award.

Friends is continually cited for changing the landscape of how drugs are researched, evaluated and approved. The truly unique and groundbreaking scientific partnerships, as well as bipartisan legislative initiatives that Dr. Ellen Sigal, and the organization which she founded 17 years ago, Friends of Cancer Research, continues to forge are a model sought to be replicated throughout the non-profit and science policy worlds.

This award celebrates Dr. Ellen Sigal’s lifelong commitment to science, research and patient advocacy. When she founded Friends in 1996, Ellen saw a compelling need to increase public awareness and support for cancer research and recognized the need for increased scientific capacity across all federal health agencies. At that time, Ellen was a Presidential Appointee to the National Cancer Advisory Board along with Marlene Malek, who joined Ellen in 1996 as President of Friends.

“I can think of no other more deserving hero and no better time to officially name our advocacy leadership award after our Chair and Founder, Dr. Ellen V. Sigal,” said Marlene Malek, President of Friends of Cancer Research.

During her more than twenty year commitment to cancer research, Ellen has served in a number of critical public policy and advocacy positions including: Vice Chair of the inaugural board of directors of the Reagan-Udall Foundation, a partnership designed to modernize medical product development, accelerate innovation, and enhance product safety in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration;  on the Board of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health where she chairs its Public-Private Partnerships Committee and on the Board of Governors of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) as a representative of patients and health consumers.

The first recipient of the Ellen V. Sigal Award, Ms. Sherry Lansing, is a longtime Friends of Cancer Research board member and has served on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee since Friends inception 17 years ago.

Sherry is one our country’s most accomplished businesswomen, research advocates, and the founder of several truly revolutionary organizations, including; the Entertainment Industry Foundation, the Sherry Lansing Foundation, and Stand Up To Cancer. She is the current Chairman of the Board of Regents of The University of California. In December 2004, Lansing was appointed to the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Lansing serves on the boards of the American Association for Cancer Research Foundation, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the Carter Center, Encore.org, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, and the W.M. Keck Foundation. Ms. Lansing was also a leader in the motion picture industry, including serving for more than twelve years as Chair and CEO of Paramount Pictures Motion Picture Group.

The inaugural Ellen V. Sigal Award will be presented to Sherry Lansing during the Friends of Cancer Research 17th Annual Cancer Leadership Awards Reception being held the evening of September 23, 2013 at the Hay-Adams Hotel in Washington, D.C.

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Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) is our country’s leading voice in advocating for policies and solutions that will get treatments to patients in the safest and quickest way possible. Friends develops groundbreaking partnerships and creates a more open dialogue among both public and private sectors and tears down the barriers that stand in the way of conquering cancer.  By collaborating with premier academic research centers, professional societies, and other advocacy organizations, Friends is able to accelerate innovation.