Luminary Awards in GI Cancers

Hosted by OncLive® and The Ruesch Center

About

The Luminary Awards in GI Cancers is an annual event dedicated to honoring five highly accomplished individuals for their lifetime achievements focused on finding cures for GI cancers and improving the lives of those affected by this group of most common and most fatal cancers. This year’s ceremony will take place on Thursday, November 20, 2025 at the Georgetown University Campus.

Past Honorees Include:

ANIRBAN MAITRA, MBBS, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

•ROBERT MAYER, M.D., Harvard Medical School

•JEANNE RUESCH, Ruesch Family Foundation

•LEE E. SMITH, M.D., FACS, Georgetown University (retired)

•RICHARD WENDER, M.D., Perelman School of Medicine

•MONICA M. BERTAGNOLLI, MD, National Cancer Institute

•LUIS  A. DIAZ, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

•EDITH PETERSON MITCHELL, MD, FACP, FCPP, FRCP, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health

•DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr, United States Representative of New Jersey

•MARTHA RAYMOND, MA, The Raymond Foundation and GI Cancers Alliance

•DOUGLAS B. EVANS, MD, of Froedtert & The Medical College, Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center

•ALAN P. VENOOK, MD, of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) 

•JOEL TEPPER, MD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

•DAVID TUVESON, MD, PhD, of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center

•JIM PALMA of Target Cancer Foundation

•RICHARD M. GOLDBERG, MD- West Virginia University Cancer Institute

•GAYLE S. JAMESON, RN, MSN, ACNP-BC, AOCN- HonorHealth Research Institute

•STACIE C. LINDSEY- Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation

•TYVIN RICH, MD, FACR- Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute

•DIANE M. SIMEONE, MD- NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center

•JOSEPH BIDEN- Vice President, United States (at the time of award)

•JOHN S. MACDONALD, MD, FACP- Criterium, Inc.

•MICHAEL SAPIENZA- Colorectal Cancer Alliance

•RICHARD L. SCHILSKY, MD, FACP, FASCO, FSCT- American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

•PAUL H. SUGARBAKER, MD, FACS, FRCS- MedStar Washington Hospital Center

•DANIEL D. VON HOFF, MD, FACP- Translational Genomics Research Institute;

•JULIE FLESHMAN, JD, MBA- Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

•DANIEL G. HALLER MD, FACP, FRCP- Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania

•HENRY T. LYNCH, MD, MS, FACP, FAACR- Creighton University School of Medicine

•FRANK MCCORMICK, PHD, FRS- University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) 

•ANDREW L. WARSHAW, MD, FACS, FRCSED (HON)- Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital