Advocacy for Lung Cancer is Personal

What an impact our community can make! On March 23-25, 2021, we brought together survivors, patients, caregivers, family & friends, healthcare professionals to listen, learn, share, and tell their members of Congress about the needs of the lung cancer community and demand action.

Look at the numbers:

160 meetings with House Representatives and Senators, representing 34 states
320 total event attendees, including 131 patients/survivors

We Asked Congress to Act

Our two co-founders—Laurie Fenton Ambrose, President and CEO; and Bonnie J. Addario, Board Chair—started the Voices Summit with energy and compassion. They urged advocates to use their voices to bring change to the lung cancer landscape. Our community responded with a unified voice directed at Congress.

Advocates told their personal stories in 160 congressional meetings to underscore the need for increased spending in lung cancer research and heightened focus on the question of why younger women are being diagnosed with lung cancer at an increasing rate.

Specifically, we requested:

$26 million in the FY2022 Appropriations for the Department of Defense for the stand-alone Lung Cancer Research Program.
Encouragement that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) continue to fund important research request through “Report Language” on lung cancer.
Support as a co-sponsor for the bicameral and bipartisan legislation known as the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act, which seeks to answer the questions of how and why lung cancer advances in younger women and never smokers.

Our Advocates Were Loud and Clear

Voices Summit attendees and others used our toolkit to create a buzz on social media about lung cancer disparities and research needs. Our twitter feed was full of quotes from speakers and the thoughts of advocates. Visit our Summit page to see how we spread the word!

Education Galore

Attendees benefited from the conversations of experts on a variety of important topics, including lung cancer screening, new advancements in research and treatments, and the impact of COVID-19 on patients with lung cancer and the healthcare environment.

Thank you to the following presenters and moderators for sharing their expertise:

Douglas E. Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, The Henry N. Harkins Professor and Chair Department of Surgery, University of Washington
Christine M. Lovly, MD, PhD, Chair, Scientific Leadership Board, Associate Professor of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
John Minna, MD, Professor & Director, Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, Internal Medicine, Pharmacology, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Elridge Proctor, MPA, Senior Director, Government Affairs, GO2 for Lung Cancer
Jennifer C. King, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Science & Research, GO2 for Lung Cancer
Andrew Ciupek, PhD, Manager, Clinical Research, GO2 for Lung Cancer
Harpreet Singh, MD, Director, Division of Oncology 2, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Bonnie Addario, Co-Founder, Board Chair & Lung Cancer Survivor, GO2 for Lung Cancer
Danielle Hicks, Chief Patient Officer, GO2 for Lung Cancer

Check back on our website later this spring for presentation videos.

Congratulations to Our Awardees

An event is not complete without highlighting individuals who have made a difference. Members of Congress, social workers, and patient advocates—these are just a few examples of the many heroes in the lung cancer community.

Michael G. Oxley Leadership Award

Congressman Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Chair of the Congressional Lung Cancer Caucus, supported by GO2 for Lung Cancer; Sponsor of the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventative Services Act.
Congressman John Rutherford (R-FL), Co-Chair of the Congressional Lung Cancer Caucus in the 116th Congress, supported by GO2 for Lung Cancer; Original Co-Sponsor of the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act.