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Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.)
Chief Executive Officer, American Association for Cancer Research
Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Executive Officer,
AACR Foundation for the Prevention and Cure of Cancer
Managing Editor, Cancer Research
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Dr. Margaret Foti joined the AACR as an Editorial Assistant for Cancer Research under the editorship of her first mentor, Michael B. Shimkin, M.D. She was rapidly promoted to the position of Managing Editor of Cancer Research four years later under the editorship of Sidney Weinhouse, Ph.D. Serving in this capacity, she became the youngest Managing Editor of a major scientific journal in the country. Dr. Foti's contributions and guidance to subsequent Editors-in-Chief have enabled Cancer Research to become the most highly cited cancer journal in the world.
Dr. Foti progressed through several key management roles in scientific publishing and became the first Executive Director of the AACR in 1982. Her title was later changed to Chief Executive Officer and Publisher to reflect her expanding leadership role. Working collaboratively with the elected officers of the AACR, she has provided the corporate knowledge, continuity of leadership, and innovation that have been critical to expediting the Association's progress toward achieving the goal of its mission statement - to prevent and cure cancer.
Under her leadership, the AACR has grown to more than 25,000 members in more than 60 countries worldwide, and it serves tens of thousands more in the worldwide cancer community.
Dr. Foti's vision enabled the launch of AACR's four additional high-quality journals - Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; and Molecular Cancer Research - that contribute over 26,000 pages to the scientific literature every year. Through her ongoing emphasis on quality, accuracy, speed of publication, and expert peer review, the AACR journals have achieved a high level of success in the cancer and biomedical communities.
Recognizing the importance of timely communications in the rapidly advancing areas of cancer research, Dr. Foti proposed the concept of the AACR Special Conference series, which was approved and launched in 1988. The series has grown to feature more than ten Special Conferences per year held both in the United States and internationally. In addition, the introduction of the Cancer Prevention, Molecular Targets, and Molecular Diagnostics in Clinical Development meeting series has contributed to rapid advancements in these exciting fields. The AACR meetings are now widely recognized for their seminal contributions to the field.
Dr. Foti's leadership was also crucial to the development of the AACR Annual Meeting into the premier international cancer research meeting in the world for the exchange of basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiological cancer research data. Her expertise in the global communication of science has been highly contributory to the unprecedented growth in the stature and size of this important meeting.
Dr. Foti understands the role of the AACR and its members in working in partnership with cancer survivors, patient advocates, and the public about the importance of cancer research to conquer cancer. She recently added the AACR Department of Survivor and Patient Advocacy, the first of its kind within a professional scientific society, and she has volunteered her personal time over the years to foster the mission of numerous non-profit associations, foundations, and world scientific events. The AACR has also become a highly visible and effective advocate for cancer research in Washington through her collaborative efforts with AACR's Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Committee.
During her tenure, Dr. Foti has been instrumental to the success of the AACR, and, in her leadership role, she has strategically positioned the Association to maximize its impact against cancer as we enter the new millennium. In addition to her tireless work on behalf of the AACR, Dr. Foti has served as a Board member, and later as President, of the National Coalition for Cancer Research; member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Friends of Cancer Research; Board member of the Translational Genomics Institute (TGen); and Council member of the European Association for Cancer Research. She has also served as President of the Council of Science Editors and of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, and has served in various capacities for the International Federation of Science Editors, General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, European Life Science Editors Association, American Cancer Society, and American Heart Association, among others. She has been a consultant to a number of nonprofit organizations and has lectured widely at academic institutions in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Foti's dedication and incredible passion for conquering cancer are well-known and held in high esteem in the Association as well as globally. She has received many national and international awards for her contributions to cancer research including: the Ville de Paris Award for her contributions to the field of oncology; the Cino del Duca Award for raising public awareness of cancer research globally; the Community Caring Award from the William S. Graham Foundation for Melanoma Research; the American Society of Clinical Oncology Special Recognition Award for her work in advancing clinical cancer research; and most recently, the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of American Cancer Institutes for contributions to the nation's cancer centers. She has also been awarded Honorary Memberships in the Japanese Cancer Association and the European Association for Cancer Research, and an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Rome La Sapienza. She holds the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Temple University, her Ph.D. being in Communications.