Association of Community Cancer Centers to Honor Cancer Patient Advocate Barbara Hoffman, JD
ROCKVILLE, MD – Feb. 25, 2010 – Barbara Hoffman, JD, will be honored with the Association of Community Cancer Centers' Annual Achievement Award for her long-standing advocacy, dedication, and commitment to quality cancer survivorship services and education. Professor Hoffman is a member of the legal research and writing faculty of Rutgers School of Law in Newark, N.J., and is the founding chair of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. She has authored consumer booklets on the legal rights of cancer survivors and is the editor of "A Cancer Survivor's Almanac: Charting Your Journey."
The award will be presented at ACCC's 36th Annual National Meeting on Friday, March 19, 2010, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore, Md.
Since the early 1980s, Professor Hoffman has advocated for the rights of cancer survivors and individuals with disabilities. She has served as a consultant to the National Cancer Institute as well as to comprehensive cancer centers and nonprofit organizations. Professor Hoffman was an area specialist to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship's "Cancer Survival Toolbox," and is the recipient of the President’s Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
"Before the 1970s, a substantial percentage of cancer survivors faced blatant employment discrimination with little legal recourse, a paucity of support services, and limited medical options for curative treatment," writes Professor Hoffman. "Since then, survivors have benefited from improvements in cancer treatment, the passage of state and federal antidiscrimination laws, and a sea change in perceptions about living with and beyond cancer. Consequently, cancer survivors now face fewer barriers to employment opportunities. Because millions of cancer survivors, more than ever before, are now working age adults, advocacy efforts should shift from expanding legal protection from cancer-based discrimination to providing resources to help survivors meet their individual employment-related concerns."
Professor Hoffman joins a long list of distinguished past recipients of ACCC's Annual Achievement Award that includes pioneering researcher Judah Folkman, MD; Harmon J. Eyre, MD, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society; H. Lee. Moffitt, an innovator and advocate of community access to clinical trials; Harold P. Freeman, MD, an early advocate and creator of patient navigation programs; and Susan Leigh, RN, BSN, founding member and past president of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS).
Since 1974, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) has served as the leading national multidisciplinary organization that sets the standard for quality care for patients with cancer. ACCC is dedicated to promoting professional learning opportunities and to providing a forum for members to network and enhance their skills in the business, clinical and management aspects of care for the cancer community. Nearly 17,000 cancer care professionals from approximately 900 hospitals and more than 1,200 private practices are affiliated with ACCC. Our unique membership includes all members of the cancer care team: medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cancer program administrators and medical directors, pharmacists, oncology nurses, oncology social workers, and cancer program data managers. For more information, visit ACCC's website at www.accc-cancer.org. Follow us on Facebook and on ACCCBuzz, ACCC's online blog, www.acccbuzz.wordpress.com.
