Eight Leaders to Receive Distinguished 2015 Luther L. Terry Awards
The American Cancer Society announces the recipients of the 2015 Luther L. Terry Awards for Exemplary Leadership in Tobacco Control.
The Luther L. Terry Award recognizes outstanding global achievement in the field of tobacco control in six categories: outstanding individual leadership, outstanding organization, outstanding research contribution, exemplary leadership by a government ministry, distinguished career, and outstanding community service.
The awards will be presented during a special evening ceremony on Thursday, March 19, in Abu Dhabi, as part of the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health. The awardees are:
Jonathan Samet, MD, MS, from the United States will receive the Distinguished Career award.
The United Kingdom Department of Health’s Tobacco Program will receive the award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry.
Eduardo Bianco, MD, from Uruguay will receive the award for Outstanding Individual Leadership.
The Smoke Free Partnership, located in Belgium, will receive the Outstanding Organization award.
Geoffrey Fong, PhD, from Canada and Frank Chaloupka, PhD, from the United States will receive awards for Outstanding Research Contribution.
Patti White, from the United Kingdom, and Tariana Turia, from New Zealand will receive awards for Outstanding Community Service.
“Tobacco-related diseases are the most preventable cause of death worldwide, responsible for the deaths of approximately half of all long-term tobacco users,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society. “We are pleased to recognize these exemplary individuals and organizations who carry on the noble and incredibly important work of ending the deadly spread of tobacco around the globe.”
The awards are named for the late United States Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, M.D., who led the landmark 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, which identified tobacco use as a cause of lung cancer and other illnesses. This report, coupled with the UK Royal College of Physicians Report in 1962, marked a turning point in addressing the global threat of tobacco use and disease, and has ushered in an era in which smoke-free environments, higher tobacco taxes, more tobacco dependence treatment, severe restrictions on tobacco advertising, and even graphic warning labels on tobacco packages are becoming more commonplace.
The award nominations were reviewed by an international selection committee of previous Luther L. Terry Award winners, including: Dileep G. Bal, MD, MS, MPH, United States; Beatriz M. Champagne, PhD, Mexico; Hatai Chitanondh, MD, FICS, FRCS, Thailand; Michael Cummings, PhD, MPH, United States; Stanton A. Glantz, PhD, United States; Professor Mike Daube, Australia; Deborah Arnott, MBA, United Kingdom; Martin Raw, PhD, United Kingdom, Yussuf Saloojee, PhD, South Africa; Prabhat Jha, MD, DPhil, Canada; Melanie Wakefield, PhD, Australia; Mira Aghi, PhD, India; and Stan Shatenstein, Canada. The effort was chaired by Jacqui Drope, and Andrea Lancaster, MPH, as executive director.