International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Names Research Award after Dr. Fred R. Hirsch

Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD

The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) announced it is naming the Translational Research Lectureship Award after longtime member and former IASLC CEO, Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, Executive Director of the Center for Thoracic Oncology and Associate Director of Biomarker Discovery at The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai and the Joe Lowe and Louis Price Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The award, which was previously named after Dr. Adi Gazdar, who passed away in 2018, will be called the Fred R. Hirsch Lectureship Award for Translational Research. The IASLC board also voted to name the IASLC Merit Award for Dr. Gazdar, to reflect his lifelong contributions and legacy.

The IASLC conveys lectureship awards each year at its annual World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) to celebrate individuals who are stars in the field of lung cancer and who have produced exemplary academic work and service to the IASLC, including the Translational Research Lectureship Award.

“This honor will further solidify our recognition of Dr. Hirsch’s service to the IASLC over the past 40-plus years,” said Dave Mesko, chief executive officer of the IASLC. “The over 8,000 members of the IASLC will see the Fred. R. Hirsch Lectureship Award for Translational Research as an understandable acknowledgement of the dedication that Fred has given to the lung cancer research community and to the IASLC.”

Dr. Hirsch served in many capacities with IASLC and was named CEO in 2013. He led the growth of the IASLC staff from 5 to 23. Under his tenure, membership in the organization doubled and the financial position strengthened. Also, during this time, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology moved to a new publisher and saw a tremendous growth in the impact factor. The IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) moved from every other year to an annual meeting under Dr. Hirsch’s time as CEO, culminating in record attendance and multiple practice-changing abstracts at his final WCLC as CEO, IASLC 19th WCLC in Toronto.