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Ellen Stovall

In Memoriam: Ellen Stovall

(12/02/1946 - 01/05/2016)Member since 2001

Ellen L. Stovall, a health policy advisor and member of the American Association for Cancer Research, died January 5, 2016, at the age of 69.

Stovall survived three bouts with cancer and became a tireless advocate for improving cancer care in America. She was the senior health policy advisor at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, an advocacy organization that works to influence policy to ensure quality cancer care. Stovall was a founding member of the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Board and its successor, the National Cancer Policy Forum.

Stovall joined the AACR in 2001. Even before she became an official member, she lent an engaging voice to several AACR Public Forums, speaking at Annual Meetings in San Diego and New Orleans and serving as president of the March when the AACR participated in The March–Coming Together to Conquer Cancer in Washington in 1998.

In 2000, and again in 2009, Stovall participated in the AACR’s Scientist<->Survivor Program, which connects cancer survivors and advocates with members of the scientific community.

She was a member of the AACR-Women in Cancer Research group; a member of the Stand Up To Cancer Advocate Advisory Council, and served a four-year term as an advocate member of the SU2C Breast Cancer Dream Team that explored “An Integrated Approach to Targeting Breast Cancer Molecular Subtypes and Their Resistance Phenotypes.”

“Ellen Stovall worked tirelessly to improve cancer policy in order to benefit patients and survivors alike,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “Her efforts in Washington and beyond demonstrated the powerful, impassioned role that advocates can play in the fight against cancer.”