Sanya A. Springfield, PhD, Recognized With the 2027 AACR Distinguished Public Service Award

Springfield will be honored at the AACR Annual Meeting 2027

ORLANDO – The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will present the 2027 AACR Distinguished Public Service Award to Sanya A. Springfield, PhD, at the AACR Annual Meeting 2027, to be held April 2-7 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Springfield is the director emeritus of the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is being recognized for her many years of dedicated service that have enabled groundbreaking achievements in cancer disparities research. Throughout her remarkable career, Springfield has crafted countless impactful programs that have expanded opportunities, fostered collaboration, and strengthened representation and participation within the cancer research community.

The AACR Distinguished Public Service Award recognizes individuals whose extraordinary contributions have exemplified AACR’s mission to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, science policy, advocacy, and funding for cancer research.

“Dr. Springfield is a visionary leader in cancer research, especially in the field of cancer disparities research. Her important work has saved countless lives by helping patients who would have otherwise been adversely affected by inequitable cancer care,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of AACR. “With this award, we celebrate not only her outstanding accomplishments in cancer disparities research, but also her unwavering commitment to AACR and its mission. Her decades of dedicated work and sage guidance have been indispensable to AACR’s goal of addressing cancer disparities.”

Springfield has built a distinguished career dedicated to eliminating cancer disparities and strengthening the medical research workforce. At NIH and NCI, she led the development and implementation of a national framework to address both the biological factors and structural inequities that contribute to cancer disparities and played a central role in building the NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities.

Springfield has also contributed to several NIH-wide initiatives, including the NIH Common Fund’s Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST), Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) and Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training (BEST) programs, as well as the NCI Cancer Moonshot Scholars Diversity Program (CMSDP), with the collective aim to broaden participation and improve equity across the biomedical research ecosystem. Further, she helped address cancer disparities nationwide by contributing to the development and expansion of the Partnerships to Advance Cancer Health Equity (PACHE), supporting research infrastructure at institutions serving underserved populations, and fostering collaborations with NCI-designated cancer centers.

A dedicated mentor and educator, Springfield also spearheaded the Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) program, which has supported more than 4,000 students and early-stage investigators from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds. The program has since expanded to include middle school, undergraduate, and graduate students, providing early exposure to training opportunities in cancer research.

An AACR member since 1997, Springfield has been instrumental in developing and launching several key AACR initiatives aimed at eliminating cancer disparities. She served on the AACR Minorities in Cancer Research Council for 25 years and played a pivotal role in launching the annual AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in 2007. Further, she championed the launch of the biennial AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report in 2020 and served as a member of the report’s steering committee in 2020, 2022, and 2024.

Springfield has also served as a member of the AACR-Waun Ki Hong Award for Outstanding Achievement in Translational and Clinical Cancer Research Committee (2018-2020), AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research Committee (2013-2014), AACR Science Education and Career Advancement Committee (2017-2020), AACR Science Education Committee (2014-2017), and the AACR Tellers Committee (2015-2016).

Springfield has received numerous accolades during her exceptional career, including multiple NIH and NCI Director’s Awards as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center for her dedication to advancing cancer research and workforce diversity.

Springfield earned her undergraduate degree in zoology and her doctorate in physiology and biophysics from Howard University.