UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor recognized for innovation in cancer healthcare

Dr. Patricia Ganz, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health distinguished professor of health policy and management, has been recognized for her work to improve the care and lives of cancer survivors and their families.

Ganz will receive the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship’s Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care at an event Nov. 16 in Washington, D.C.

“As one of the original members of the cancer survivorship ‘movement,’ Dr. Ganz has been instrumental in driving the field toward where it is today,” said Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov, a Harvard Medical School professor and oncology specialist. “Through her own groundbreaking research, compassionate clinical care, and dedication to mentoring countless individuals, Dr. Patti Ganz has built, guided, and supported the field of patient-centered cancer survivorship care.”

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) presents the Stovall Award annually to two recipients who have improved the care and lives of cancer survivors and their families — one health care professional and one patient advocate or advocacy organization. Ganz, whose work has encompassed topics as far-ranging as endocrine treatments for breast cancer to alleviating depression among cancer survivors, and patient advocate Alicia Staley are the 2022 awardees.

“It is a great honor to receive this award named for Ellen Stovall, with whom I collaborated for many years, pushing the agenda for quality cancer care, and to be nominated by several colleagues I have mentored,” Ganz said.

NCCS’ mission is to advocate for quality cancer care for all those touched by cancer.  Founded by and for cancer survivors, NCCS created the widely accepted definition of survivorship and defines someone as a cancer survivor from the time of diagnosis and for the balance of life.

“As one of NCCS’s founders, Dr. Patricia Ganz has been a leader of the survivorship movement for decades,” said Shelley Fuld Nasso, the coalition’s CEO. “She has been instrumental in developing the field of cancer survivorship, advancing the science, advocating for guidelines and policy change, and mentoring investigators and clinicians who contribute to the research and care of cancer survivors. She is truly an innovator in patient-centered care.”

Ganz received her M.D. from the then-UCLA School of Medicine in 1973, and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the UCLA Medical Center. She has been on the faculty of the School of Medicine since 1977, and joined the faculty of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in 1992. She is an American Cancer Society clinical research professor, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2007.

Since 1993 she has been the Associate Director for Population Science at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and also serves as director of the UCLA Fielding School’s Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research.