Dr. Laura Esserman selected as 2026 AIM-HI Beacon Award winner for her Visionary leadership in breast Cancer Research and care. September 22, 2026 On September 21, 2026, the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund announced that Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, Alfred A. de Lorimier Endowed Chair in General Surgery, Director of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Breast Care Center, and Professor of Surgery and Radiology at the University of California, San Francisco, has been selected unanimously by the 2026 Blue Ribbon Selection Committee as the recipient of the 2026 AIM-HI Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology, from a pool of outstanding global nominees. The AIM-HI Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology was established in 2022 by the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund and sponsored by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR). The Award recognizes outstanding women leaders in health and life sciences who have significantly impacted the global effort to improve and accelerate cancer treatment, detection, and diagnosis. Dr. Esserman is an internationally recognized breast surgeon and a pioneer in personalized medicine. Since 2002, she has led the I-SPY TRIALs, a groundbreaking national public-private collaboration among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), nearly 45 major cancer research centers, and dozens of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The I-SPY platform uses imaging and molecular markers to classify tumors and track treatment response in real time. This allows therapies to be escalated or de-escalated based on an individual patient's biology. More than 2,500 patients have enrolled in the trials, 25 drugs have completed evaluation, and 3 have advanced to accelerated FDA approval. Including a pathway that supported approval of pembrolizumab for advanced triple-negative breast cancer. Dr. Esserman co-founded Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the I-SPY and RECAST trials. A provocative and consistent voice against over-diagnosis and over-treatment, Dr. Esserman designed and leads RECAST DCIS, a long-term active surveillance registry showing that many lesions currently labeled as ductal carcinoma in situ can be safely monitored rather than immediately treated. She has authored or co-authored more than 500 peer-reviewed publications. She mentors trainees at every career stage through her post-baccalaureate research program and UCSF's surgical oncology training grant, and has been named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People and, most recently, to the 2026 TIME 100 Health list. Her other honors include the Komen Visionary Award, the Komen Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research, the Ernest C. Arbuckle Award from Stanford's Graduate School of Business, and Fellowship in both the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Esserman also led creation of the University of California-wide Athena Breast Health Network and serves as principal investigator of the WISDOM Study, a national trial that has enrolled more than 55,000 women to test whether personalized, risk-based breast cancer screening can safely replace a one-size-fits-all annual mammography schedule. Published in JAMA in December 2025, the WISDOM Study found that risk-based screening was non-inferior to annual screening, with no stage IIB or higher cancers among women in the highest-risk group who received more frequent screening. The study has inspired sister trials in Europe and Israel. Dr. Esserman is now leading its next phase, WISDOM 2.0, which will incorporate polygenic risk and mammographic artificial intelligence to further personalize screening and prevention. "Dr. Esserman has spent more than two decades as a pioneer and innovator, proving that cancer care and research can be combined to transform clinical trials and build information-driven learning systems to deliver state-of-the art patient-centric care for all patients in need. Her work through multi-sector programs such as I-SPY and WISDOM challenged the status quo to demonstrate the power of learning health systems, which is now benefiting patients well beyond cancer. Through her work, she has also gone well beyond just changing how research and care can be connected to address problems such as over-treatment and quality of life challenges for breast cancer, and well beyond. She embodies exactly the individual that has combined bold ideas, research and multi-sector teams of oncologists, industry leaders and policy makers for the benefit of all patients, which is what at the AIM-HI Beacon Award was created to celebrate," said Anna D. Barker, PhD, Chief Strategy Officer, Ellison Medical Institute, inaugural 2022 awardee for the Beacon Award, and Co-Chair of the 2026 Beacon Award Selection Committee. "Throughout her career, Dr. Esserman has combined scientific rigor with genuine advocacy for patients. She built I-SPY into a model the entire field now looks to for how public and private partners can accelerate drug development together, and she has never stopped pushing to make sure that progress reaches patients faster and with less harm. Few leaders in oncology have had this kind of sustained impact," said Webster Cavenee, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, University of California San Diego and Co-Chair of the 2026 Beacon Award Selection Committee. "I am deeply honored to receive the 2026 AIM-HI Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology. This recognition belongs as much to the patients, collaborators, advocates, and trainees who have shaped I-SPY, WISDOM, RECAST, and REWIRE DCIS, and everything we have built together as it does to me. My hope has always been that we can move cancer care toward something more personalized, less harmful, and adaptive to risk and response. We can do it much faster by working across institutions and disciplines rather than alone, and by being willing to challenge long-held paradigms and acting upon what the trials are teaching us in real time. The goal is to keep learning - and to test and provide new options when our patients need them most. I am grateful to the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund and the National Foundation for Cancer Research for this honor," said Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, Director of the UCSF Breast Care Center. Dr. Esserman will be honored at the 2026 AIM-HI Beacon Award Ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on October 9, 2026. The award ceremony is part of the 2026 NFCR Global Summit and Award Ceremonies for Cancer Research & Entrepreneurship, which brings together world-renowned leaders in cancer research and drug development, business leaders, investors, government officials, supporters, and patient advocates. The Past Recipients of the Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology * Anna D. Barker, PhD, 2022 Awardee, Chief Strategy Officer, Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Complex Adaptive Systems, Arizona State University * Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, 2023 Awardee, President of National Academy of Medicines, Former Director, National Institutes of Health and Former Director, National Cancer Institute. * Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), 2024 Awardee, Chief Executive Officer, American Association for Cancer Research About the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund The AIM-HI Accelerator Fund is a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating the translation of promising cancer research into new therapies, technologies, and companies that can benefit patients. By providing early-stage funding, entrepreneurial support, and connections to a global network of scientific, industry, and investment leaders, AIM-HI helps oncology innovators bridge the critical gap between scientific discovery and commercialization. Through its programs and partnerships, AIM-HI is building a sustainable ecosystem to advance breakthrough cancer innovations toward patients. About the National Foundation for Cancer Research The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973 by Nobel Laureate Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi and entrepreneur Franklin Salisbury, Sr. For more than 50 years, NFCR has supported bold, high-impact cancer research, providing scientists with critical funding to pursue promising ideas and accelerate discoveries toward better prevention, detection, and treatment. With the support of more than 5.7 million donors, NFCR has provided over $420 million for cancer research and education, contributing to important scientific advances that are improving lives and shaping the future of cancer care.

Promising prostate cancer therapy accelerated for patients with 'urgent unmet needs' 19 June 2026 A promising new treatment for advanced and therapy-resistant prostate cancer developed from research conducted at The University of Queensland is now one step closer to reaching patients. UQ's commercialisation company UniQuest has entered into an exclusive licence agreement with the Los Angeles-based Ellison Medical Institute (EMI) to develop and commercialise UQ's small molecule therapeutic QED-203. The partnership will accelerate QED-203 into first-in-human studies in 2027 as a treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), where patients often have limited treatment options. Based on research led by Professor Greg Monteith from UQ's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, QED-203 was developed at the Queensland Emory Drug Discovery Initiative (QEDDI), the small molecule drug discovery group of UniQuest. 'Limited options' QEDDI Head Dr Brian Dymock said QED-203 is a potential first-in-class therapy targeting a calcium ion channel known as TRPV6 associated with aggressive prostate cancer. "Patients with this advanced metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer often face very limited options once existing therapies stop working," Dr Dymock said. "Our goal has been to develop a novel treatment approach that could ultimately improve clinical outcomes for patients with advanced and therapy-resistant disease." Professor Monteith said the deal marked an important milestone built on more than 15 years of research into the role of calcium-signalling in cancer progression. "This deal reflects years of collaboration with QEDDI scientists to develop a completely new therapeutic approach for patients with advanced disease," Professor Monteith said. 'Urgent unmet needs' Under the agreement, EMI will support the continued development of QED-203 using its integrated capabilities, including AI-driven research, human-relevant preclinical models, and in-house clinical expertise. Established in 2016, Ellison Medical Institute is a clinical and research organisation advancing cancer research, translation science, and drug development to bring innovative therapies to patients faster. EMI Founding CEO, Dr David Agus said he was excited to support the development of QED-203 to address urgent unmet needs in metastatic prostate cancer and meaningfully benefit patients. "EMI is uniquely positioned to push this work forward, with deep expertise in oncology and a translational mission built for programs like this," Dr Agus said. "Together, with UniQuest, we're bringing expertise and a shared sense of purpose needed to move this work forward for the patients and families who need it most." Partnership impact. UniQuest CEO Dr Dean Moss said the deal highlighted the strength of QEDDI's model for translating world-class research at UQ into commercial opportunities with the potential to deliver impact. "This partnership demonstrates the value of building dedicated drug discovery and translation capability around outstanding university research," Dr Moss said. "QEDDI was established to help transform promising discoveries from UQ into high-quality development candidates, and this partnership with EMI is a strong example of that model in action. "It is particularly pleasing to see a therapy originating from UQ research attract an international partner like EMI, whose strong R&D capabilities can help accelerate QED-203's path to the clinic and, in time, to patients." Collaboration and acknowledgements. QED-203 has been supported by the Biomedical Translation Bridge (an initiative of the Medical Research Future Fund delivered by MTPConnect); the Critical Path Institute's Translational Therapeutics Accelerator; and the National Health and Medical Research Council Development Grant scheme to fund key preclinical studies, manufacturing and safety activities. A potential treatment for heart attack and stroke, derived from a spider venom molecule identified by UQ researchers, has been administered to the first participants in a clinical trial. 8 January 2026 Acquisition of a biopharmaceutical company commercialising UQ's Molecular Clamp technology has been agreed by one of the world's leading healthcare companies in a landmark deal. 22 July 2025 Media contact. Get the latest from its newsroom.