Wednesday, October 04, 2023 Everyone at CCTG would like to congratulate Dr Frances Shepherd who was recently awarded the Lifetime Contribution Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society. She is an international leader in clinical and translational lung cancer research whose work has transformed the standard of care for patients in Canada and around the world. With a career spanning more than four decades, Dr Shepherd has contributed to more than 600 peer-reviewed publications and countless citations. She has also designed and led more than 100 innovative clinical trials, many of which have changed treatment for people with early- and advanced-stage lung cancer worldwide. Dr Shepherd also has been instrumental in establishing lung cancer tumour banks for basic laboratory-based researchers to study this devastating cancer at a molecular level. Through her leadership, she has brought together a team of bench-to-bedside researchers committed to studying and treating lung cancer. This team is recognized worldwide as one of the foremost groups turning the development of basic science discoveries into clinical applications. She is the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research University Professor, University of Toronto, Department of Medicine and Staff Physician, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network. In 2001, Dr Shepherd was named the Scott Taylor Chair in Lung Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, becoming the first holder of this esteemed research position with a primary goal of investigating new options for lung cancer therapy. For 19 years, she served as Chair of the Lung Cancer Committee at CCTG and is the former chair of the Thoracic Oncology CCTG Disease Site Committee as well as the study chair of early and late phase trials evaluating novel therapies for patients with thoracic malignancies. Dr Shepherd has served on numerous national and international boards including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer. She has received many awards for her achievements, including CCS’s O. Harold Warwick Prize in 2006, the Order of Ontario in 2007 and an Ontario Premier’s Summit Award for Medical Research in 2008. In 2015, she became an Officer of the Order of Canada. Dr. Shepherd is also a valued teacher. In 2013, she received the Novartis Canada Oncology Award for Mentorship in recognition of the more than 50 post-doctoral research fellows she has mentored from around the world, many of whom now hold senior academic positions in their home countries. She more recently won the 2018 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award for outstanding career leadership in medicine and medical science. Through her exceptional contributions, Dr Shepherd has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the lives of thousands of people affected by cancer around the world. This article was originally published by CCS.
