2024 Fraumeni & Cullen Awards
Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr., Distinguished Achievement Award
The ASPO Joseph F. Fraumeni, Jr. Distinguished Achievement Award is extended annually to an outstanding scientist in the area of preventive oncology, cancer control, and/or cancer prevention.
We are thrilled to share that the 2024 Fraumeni Award recipient is Melissa Bondy, Ph.D., of Stanford University! Dr. Bondy earned a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Texas School of Public Health. She then dedicated nearly three decades of her career to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Baylor College of Medicine, serving as Director of the Childhood Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Center- a joint center of Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital. Later, she became the Associate Director of Cancer Prevention Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine’s Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center.
In addition to her dedicated service in Texas, Dr. Bondy served as the inaugural chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Stanford School of Medicine, the Associate Director for Population Sciences at the Stanford Cancer Institute, and the Stanford Medicine Discovery Professor. Dr. Bondy’s research is primarily regarding genetic and molecular epidemiology, focusing on the roles of heredity and genetic susceptibility in the etiology of cancer and outcomes. She is globally regarded as a leader in worldwide research efforts aimed at understanding heredity patterns of glioma, a deadly brain cancer.
She currently directs an international consortium aimed at identifying genes in familial glioma, leads studies on the genetic predictors of outcome in glioma, and is recognized for her work in breast cancer research. She is also devoted to identifying and closing the gaps in health disparities.
Dr. Bondy served on the National Cancer Institute’s Board of Scientific Advisers and is a member of the external advisory board for several NCI-designated cancer centers. She received the visiting scholar award from the NCI Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics in 2018. She has collaborated on over 400 published manuscripts and has been continually funded by the NIH and other funding sources spanning her entire career. She is recognized for her commitment to supporting underrepresented voices in epidemiology and is an enthusiastic advocate and mentor for faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate students.
Dr. Bondy has made substantial research contributions of depth and breadth and we are very pleased to name her the 2024 Fraumeni Awardee!
Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award
The Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award aims to appreciate an individual’s distinguished achievement in continued national tobacco control interventions, through research, through the development of prevention and cessation programs with wide-reaching public health impact, or through public policy and advocacy initiatives.
Please join us in congratulating Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., of the Medical University of South Carolina, as our 2024 Cullen Award Recipient! Dr. Carpenter is a visionary thinker and key opinion leader within the field of nicotine and tobacco research. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont and currently serves as a Tenured Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Dr. Carpenter is dedicated to researching tobacco use in various ways- from lab-based studies of craving and nicotine dependence to small and large-scale clinical trials for smoking cessation to public health policy for effective tobacco control. Dr. Carpenter’s research is vast and ever-expanding, and now includes clinical trials of e-cigarettes. The NIH has been continuously funding his research efforts since 2007- prior/current funding includes a Career Development Award (K23), multiple R01s and R21s (NCI & NIDA), and foundation grants, all as Principal Investigator. Throughout, Dr. Carpenter is keen on trainee development, encouraging a long line of trainees to develop their science (primary mentor for T32, F32, K07, K01, 2 K23s, 3 ACS, and various NIH LRP recipients) and progress in their professional careers. He has served on several NIH study sections- even serving as Chair on some. Since 2022, Dr. Carpenter has taken on a new role within the NIH CSR Advisory Council (CSRAC).
Overall, Dr. Carpenter has staunchly devoted his career to reducing the harm of premature diseases resulting associated with cigarette addiction, and we are delighted to extend this honor.
Both recipients will be presented with their awards at ASPO’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Chicago.