Berris Award
The Robert F. Berris, MD Award
for
Outstanding Commitment to Community Cancer Research
Western States Cancer Research NCORP (formerly Colorado Cancer Research Program-CCRP) is proud to present this award in honor of our founder, Robert F. Berris, MD. In 1970, Dr. Berris penned a letter to the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) stating that the current system of cancer research funding was not reaching down to the community level where the majority of patients were being treated. In 1983, the National Cancer Institute followed Dr. Berris’ advice and formed the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP). Under Dr. Berris’ leadership, CCRP was one of the original 20 CCOP sites established and continues today as Western States Cancer Research NCORP bringing state-of-the-art prevention, treatment, and symptom control clinical trials not only to Colorado but also to Alaska and Washington state. Dr. Berris retired from his private practice in 2005 and continued to support our work until his death in 2011. Dr. Robert Berris embodied all the attributes of this award.
Vision
Leadership
Commitment of time and resources
A true Warrior Against Cancer
Berris Award Winners
2009
Nicholas DiBella, MD
Nancy Morton
2010
Joel Ohlsen, MD
2011
Catherine Azar, MD
Eduardo Pujon, MD
2012
Lee Jennings, MD
Karen Holtman, RN
2013
Deb Hood
Arlene Bobrow
2015
Norm Aarestad, MD
US Rep. Diana DeGette
2017
Sami Diab, MD
Keren Sturtz, MD
2019
Andrew J. Nemechek, MD, FACS
Ann Murphy, PhD
Chris Jones, MD
Norm Benedict
2020
David Trevarthen, MD
Gerald Hayes
2021
Debbie Markham
2022
Jeffrey V. Matous, MD
Patrick Richard, MD, MPH