The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has named Larry Saltzman, MD, a recipient of the 2025 Distinguished Public Service Award for his advocacy to secure National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding for cancer research.
The award, announced on April 23, 2025, recognizes his efforts to advance treatments for patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Dr. Saltzman, a retired physician and former executive research director for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, was diagnosed with CLL in 2010, according to the press release. His advocacy, including an opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee and contributions to the AACR’s 2022 COVID-19 report, highlighted the importance of NIH-funded clinical trials for extending patient survival.
Through congressional testimony, Dr. Saltzman has championed sustained NIH funding, according to the AACR release.
“I speak here today not only for myself, but for every patient who has ever held out hope that research would buy them another year—or another decade,” Dr. Saltzman said in the press release. “Without robust, sustained, and predictable funding from the NIH, those bridges to the next treatment won’t be there when patients need them.”
