CHICAGO – The 2025 AACR Enduring Impact Award for Transformative Service to Cancer Science and Medicine will be presented to Richard Pazdur, MD, during the AACR Annual Meeting 2025, to be held April 25-30 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. Pazdur will accept the award and give remarks during the meeting’s Opening Ceremony on Sunday, April 27, which begins at 7:45 a.m. CT.
Pazdur is the director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), established in 2017. He is being recognized for his profound contributions to cancer science and medicine throughout his impressive 25 years at the FDA, where he has led an era of progress that has improved outcomes for countless patients with cancer. This award celebrates the tremendous efforts of Pazdur and his team to expedite the development of novel cancer therapeutics and to establish integrated regulatory approaches that have enhanced the cross-center coordination of oncology product clinical reviews.
“Dr. Pazdur is an inspiring and visionary leader whose steadfast commitment to innovation on behalf of patients has revolutionized the cancer field,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “During a period of rapid change and remarkable advances in cancer treatment, his contributions to ensuring timely approval of safe and effective cancer therapies have saved many thousands of lives. The AACR is extremely proud to honor his quarter century of service for the American people.”
“Dr. Pazdur has been a phenomenal mentor throughout his entire career, both during his time in academia and while at the FDA,” said Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), President of the AACR. “On a personal level, I was fortunate and honored during my medical oncology training to have Dr. Pazdur as my fellowship director from 1986 through 1990, as it was his mentorship that planted the seed for my career in clinical and translational drug development. Later, he helped establish the FDA-AACR Oncology Educational Fellowship, an outstanding program training fellows and junior faculty in regulatory and policy aspects of drug development. We are thrilled to recognize the impact of his leadership on generations of cancer researchers—and the field of cancer research as a whole—with this richly deserved award.”
Pazdur joined the FDA in 1999 as director of the Division of Oncology Drug Products, in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. In 2005, he led the consolidation of divisions that reviewed drugs and therapeutic biologics for cancer and hematologic diseases into the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products (OHOP). In 2019, OHOP was reorganized to become the Office of Oncologic Diseases (OOD). Pazdur serves as acting director of OOD.
During his tenure at the FDA, Pazdur has been at the forefront of helping the agency adapt to and usher in the era of modern cancer therapeutics, including targeted therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and adoptive T-cell therapies. His leadership has contributed to many more treatment options for patients with cancer. Indeed, more than 200 cancer drugs have been approved by the FDA in the past 25 years.
By bringing together cancer experts from across the FDA under the auspices of OCE, Pazdur has improved communication, efficiency, and productivity in the review and regulation of novel cancer therapeutics for the benefit of researchers and drug developers, oncologists, and, most importantly, patients. Programs and projects spearheaded by OCE include Project Optimus, an initiative to reform the dosage optimization and dosage selection paradigm in oncology drug development, and Project Livin’ Label, an educational initiative that aims to foster broad understanding of the associated oncology product label and increase awareness of recent oncology drug FDA approvals in the cancer community, among many others.
Pazdur has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career. In 2015, he was recognized with the AACR Distinguished Public Service Award. In addition, he has received the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society Patient-Centered Health Award (2021), the University of Chicago Cancer Research Foundation Simon M. Shubitz Cancer Prize and Lectureship (2020), the FDA Alumni Association Harvey W. Wiley Award (2019), recognition as one of OncLive’s Giants of Cancer Care (2019), the Reagan-Udall Foundation Innovations in Regulatory Science Award for Leadership (2018), the National Organization for Rare Disorders Rare Impact Award (2018), the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Gary Neil Prize for Innovation in Drug Development (2018), recognition from Bloomberg as one of The Bloomberg 50 (2017), inclusion on Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s “the one hundred” list (2016), recognition from Fortune magazine as one of the 50 World’s Greatest Leaders (2015), the LUNGevity Foundation Face of Hope Award (2015), the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship Public Service Leadership Award (2015), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology Service Recognition Award (2009).
Prior to joining the FDA, Pazdur was professor of medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Before that, he served on the faculty of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Pazdur earned his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and medical degree at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. He has published more than 800 articles, book chapters, and abstracts, as well as two medical oncology textbooks.