Byers receives 2012 St. George National Award from the American Cancer Society

Tim Byers, MD, MPH | Associate Dean for Public Health Practice

Tim E. Byers, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Dean and Professor, Colorado School of Public Health, Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Control, University of Colorado Cancer Center, is one of 26 inspirational individuals who received the American Cancer Society’s St. George National Award for outstanding service to the community in support of the Society’s mission to combat cancer. Recipients were chosen based on ongoing leadership, time commitment, and dedication to areas such as mission delivery, patient support, legislative advocacy, fundraising and event engagement.

All nominees for this award have dedicated at least six years of their time to the fight against cancer and for more birthdays, and have significantly contributed to advancing the Society’s mission. Since conceived in 1949 by Dr. Charles S. Cameron, former Society medical and scientific director, the St. George award has been presented annually to Society volunteers nationwide.

“The St. George National Award recipients share a passion with the American Cancer Society for helping to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays,” said W. Phil Evans, M.D., F.A.C.R., president of the American Cancer Society. “We are proud to honor these volunteers for their exemplary service to the Society’s mission.”

A resident of Aurora, Colorado, Dr. Byers has committed more than 30 years to the American Cancer Society as both a volunteer and Board Member. A world renowned authority in the epidemiology of cancer and particularly the emerging link between excess body weight and cancer incidence, Byers has served as a principal investigator and author of papers that have shaped the Society’s activities over the past fifteen years.

“I am deeply honored by this award from the American Cancer Society,” said Byers. “I love the mission of the Society and over the years have been gratified to have worked with so many great staff and volunteers to prevent cancer and reduce its suffering. When I think about how much there is yet to do in the fight against cancer, the St. George Award humbles me and motivates me to redouble my own efforts.”

In addition to Dr. Byers, the Society also honored:

-        Laura E. Nathan, Ph.D., of  Lafayette, Calif., Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Mills College, Oakland; Visiting Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley;
-        Charles G. Smith, Esq., of Los Angeles, Calif., Attorney – Business Litigation;
-        David Wesley of Placerville, Calif., Advertising Finance;
-        Mary Joyce Dienger, Ph.D., R.N., of Cincinnati, Ohio, Nurse Researcher, Nursing Administration;
-        Gary Olson of Stroudsburg, Pa., President & CEO, ESSA Bank & Trust;
-        Aimee R. Belgard, Esq., of Westmont, N.J., Attorney, Sweeny & Sheehan, PC;
-        Ivan C. Brown, C.P.A., of Long Branch, N.J., Managing Partner, WithumSmith+Brown;
-        John S. Chaperon of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Retired;
-        Michael E. Kasper, M.D., FACRO, of Boca Raton, Fla., Radiation Oncologist, Lynn Regional Cancer Center;
-        Adnan Hammad, Ph.D., of Dearborn, Mich., Senior Director, Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) Community Health & Research Center;
-        Robert Foote of Portland, Ore., Architect; Founder of the Hood to Coast and Portland Coast American Cancer Society Relay For Life events;
-        Delia Oliveri of Las Vegas, Nev., Retired Legal Secretary;
-        Lynn Hancock of Houston, Texas, Principal, Booker Hancock and Associates;
-        Cherilyn Pollard of Gainesville, Texas, Realtor;
-        Clement S. Rose, M.D., of Chicago, Ill., Medical Director of Clinical Informatics, Weiss Memorial Hospital;
-        Colleen Lemoine, APRN, MN, AOCN, RN-BC, of New Orleans, LA, Clinical Nurse Specialist for Oncology;
-        Joan Perry of Birmingham, Ala., Vice President (owner), PHP Communications, Inc.;
-        Becky Walker of Grayson, Ky., Youth Services Center Director, Carter County Board of Education;
-        Patricia Finder-Stone, M.S., R.N., of De Pere, Wis., Community Activist, Retired Registered Nurse;
-        Nancy E. Kane, R.N., M.S., AOCN, of Concord, N.H., Advanced Oncology Certified Nurse at Concord Hospital’s Payson Center for Cancer Care;
-        Thomas J. Keating, M.D., M.S., of Brunswick, Maine, Medical Oncologist / Medical Director of Palliative Care & Hospice;
-        Susan Myers of West Hartford, Conn., Manager in Business Analysis at The Hartford;
-        Betty Lesko of Moneta, Va., Self-employed, Carlisle Fashion Consultant;
-        Jean Lester of Wytheville, Va., Retired Nurse;
-        Robert Schechner of Raleigh, N.C., Retired Owner of a Limousine Service.

The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end cancer for good. As a global grassroots force of three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping you stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early, helping you get well by being there for you during and after a diagnosis, by finding cures through groundbreaking discovery and fighting back through public policy. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.8 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, an estimated 13.7 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.