Lugano, Switzerland, 20 March 2019 – The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) have announced that the 2019 Heine H. Hansen (HHH) Award will be given to Françoise Mornex. The award will be presented at the ELCC 2019 (European Lung Cancer Congress), to be held 10–13 April in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mornex is Professor of Oncology at the Université Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, and practices radiation and medical oncology at the Hospices Civils de Lyon. Her specialty is combined chemoradiation strategies in lung cancer, including multimodality treatment, novel chemoradiation regimens, and innovative radiotherapy techniques. She is passionate about teaching and tutoring young oncologists on research and clinical practice in Europe and Asia, and improving connections between lung specialists with help of ESMO and the IASLC.
Giorgio Scagliotti, IASLC President, said: “The 2019 Heine H. Hansen Award goes to a true interpreter of the multidisciplinary approach to the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic malignancies. Prof. Mornex has been crucial to the success of the educational activities of both societies and has played a significant role in raising a voice about the threat of lung cancer in emerging countries.”
On receiving the accolade, Mornex said: “This award is a great honour and a rare privilege. I met Heine Hansen in 1988 when he was IASLC President. He was a charismatic, visionary leader, a pioneer in many fields, and inspired me deeply, especially with his concept of international collaboration. It is symbolic for me to receive an award with his name, reflecting the opportunity from ESMO and the IASLC to make progress in combined treatment modalities and education. Receiving this award also recognises the scientific work of collaborative teams in Lyon, France, Europe and internationally, and supports the pivotal role of radiotherapy in the therapeutic management of lung cancer.”
Acknowledging the contributions of others to her career, Mornex gave “a special mention to all women in oncology. They deserve a strategic place in our field and many of them have impressed and influenced me”. She also thanked her mentors, notably Jim Cox, Eli Glatstein, Allen Lichter, Paul Bunn and John Minna at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, US, where she was a visiting fellow in radiation and medical oncology during 1983–1985.
Solange Peters, ESMO President-elect, said: “I am very pleased to see Prof. Mornex’s extensive experience in the study of multimodal therapy for lung cancer patients acknowledged with the Heine H. Hansen Award. Needless to say, as Chair of the ESMO Women for Oncology Committee, it gives me great pride to see this prestigious award given for the first time to a woman.”
The HHH Award honours the lifetime contribution of Heine H. Hansen to lung cancer research and education and is awarded to a lung cancer investigator who has made a special contribution to this field. The HHH Award is presented annually by representatives of ESMO and the IASLC at ELCC, where the recipient will give a keynote lecture. (1)
Official Congress hashtag: #ELCC19
References
- The Heine H. Hansen Award will be presented to Françoise Mornex during the HHH Award lecture on Wednesday, 10 April 2019, 13:45–14:15, Room B. “The HHH model applied to Radiotherapy: Honour the past, evaluate the present and stimulate the future.”
About Heine H. Hansen
Heine H. Hansen started translational research in lung cancer and collaborated with many investigators in Europe and the US. Early on he saw a need for a formal collaborative framework for investigators focusing on lung cancer and was one of the visionary founders of the IASLC and its journal Lung Cancer. He later became the IASLC’s President and first Executive Director. Prof Hansen played a significant role in ESMO’s evolution and was ESMO President in 1996-1997. At ESMO he contributed to the development of a global curriculum for medical oncology and was instrumental in developing medical oncology as a recognised specialty in Europe. He was also very active in educational activities in the previous Eastern European countries and implemented many clinical trials in this part of Europe.