Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) today announced the following awards and appointments:
Andrea Cercek and Vinod Balachandran Named to the 2025 TIME100 Health List
Andrea Cercek, MD, gastrointestinal oncologist, section head of Colorectal Cancer, and co-director of the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancers, and Vinod Balachandran, MD, surgeon-scientist and director of the Olayan Center for Cancer Vaccines at MSK, were named to the 2025 TIME100 Health list. The list recognizes the 100 most influential individuals in health and medicine who have made significant contributions to improving global health outcomes, advancing medical research, and driving innovation in healthcare delivery. Dr. Cercek was recognized for her groundbreaking work addressing cancer in young people, including studies demonstrating how immunotherapy can help some people with cancer preserve quality of life and avoid surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. Dr. Balachandran was recognized for his pioneering research advancing messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines to treat pancreatic cancer. This is the second consecutive year that Dr. Cercek has been included on this list.
Chrysothemis Brown, Alexandar Gitlin, and Ed Reznik Awarded 2025 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators
Chrysothemis Brown, MBBS, PhD, assistant attending and leader of The Chrysothemis Brown Lab; Alexandar Gitlin, MD, PhD, pathologist and leader of The Alexandar Gitlin Lab; and Ed Reznik, PhD, computational oncologist and leader of The Ed Reznik Lab, received the 2025 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators. This award is presented annually to cancer research scientists and physician-scientists based in the greater New York City area. The prize empowers early-career investigators and enables them to pursue innovative research projects during a crucial stage when conventional funding may be limited or insufficient.
Muhammad Alkazemi, Olayode Babatunde, Eric Bent, Kuo-Kai Chin, Charles Hsu, Yash Khandwala, Amira Marouf, Kevin Miller, Jessica Ross, and Jimmitti Teysir Received the Young Investigator Award
Muhammad Alkazemi, MD, fellow; Olayode Babatunde, MD, fellow; Eric Bent, MD, PhD, fellow; Kuo-Kai Chin, MD, fellow; Charles Hsu, MD; Yash Khandwala, MD, research fellow; Amira Marouf, MD, PhD; Kevin Miller, MD, fellow; Jessica Ross, MD, fellow; and Jimmitti Teysir, MD, were awarded the ASCO Foundation Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award (YIA). The YIA provides research funding to promising young physicians during the final years of training to support their transition to faculty appointments and to encourage quality research in clinical oncology.
David Pfister, Saad Usmani, Kenneth Offit, and Mark Kris Inducted into Giants of Cancer Care Class of 2025
David Pfister, MD, head and neck medical oncologist; Saad Usmani, MD, MBA, FACP, FASCO, myeloma specialist & cellular therapist and chief of the Myeloma Service; Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, clinical geneticist and chief of the Clinical Genetics Service; and Mark Kris, MD, thoracic medical oncologist and William and Joy Chair in Thoracic Oncology, were named to OncLive’s 13th annual class of Giants of Cancer Care for their contributions to head and neck cancer, myeloma, and thoracic malignancies. The Giants of Cancer Care program aims to honor and celebrate the accomplishments of leading researchers and educators whose discoveries have propelled the field and set the groundwork for future advancements. They join 12 MSK experts previously elected.
Anaeze Offodile II Received the 2025 Transformational Clinical Award
Anaeze Offodile II, MD, MPH, Chief Strategy Officer, was awarded the 2025 Transformational Clinical Award by Columbia’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). This award honors an alum with 25 or fewer years of graduation from VP&S who is making transformational contributions to advance clinical medicine.
Gianfranco Yee Selected for the 2025 Hertz Fellowship
Gianfranco Yee, BS, fellow, was selected for the 2025 Hertz Fellowship by the Hertz Foundation. The fellowship supports top doctoral students in the applied sciences, engineering, and mathematics. As a Hertz Fellow, Mr. Yee will receive five years of funding designed to provide the freedom and flexibility to pursue groundbreaking research. His work focuses on leveraging the gut microbiome and immune system to develop innovative therapeutic treatments.
Nadeem Abu-Rustum Awarded the 2025 Excellence in Engagement Award
Nadeem Abu-Rustum, MD, FACOG, FACS, gynecologic surgeon and chief of the gynecologic service, received the 2025 Excellence in Engagement Award by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Dr. Abu-Rustum was honored for his vast knowledge, thoughtfulness, dedication, and responsiveness. Additionally, his commitment to NCCN’s global mission is exemplified through trips around the world to adapt gynecologic guidelines for different regions with varying resource levels.
Ryan Sugarman Named Top Oncologist by the Long Island Herald
Ryan Sugarman, MD, medical oncologist, was recognized as a Top Oncologist at the Long Island Choice Awards by the Long Island Herald. The Long Island Choice Awards recognize and celebrate individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout Long Island in several categories, all nominated by the community. This is Dr. Sugarman’s third year receiving this recognition.
Mini Kamboj Awarded the 2024 Excellence in Health Care Award by United Hospital Fund
Mini Kamboj, MD, infectious disese specialist, received the 2025 Excellence in Health Care Award by the United Hospital Fund (UHF). UHF’s Excellence in Health Care Award honors extraordinary personal leadership to improve quality of care, patient safety, and patient experience. Honorees were selected for their vision and accomplishments by participating hospital systems, long-term care facilities, home care organizations, independent practice associations, and federally qualified health centers from across the greater New York metropolitan region.
Nai-Kong Cheung and Marc Ladanyi Awarded the St. Baldrick’s Summer Fellows Grant
Nai-Kong Cheung, MD, PhD, pediatric hematologist-oncologist, and Marc Ladanyi, MD, pathologist, were awarded the St. Baldrick’s Summer Fellows Grant. This grant funds stipends for undergraduate, graduate, or medical school students to work in pediatric oncology settings for a summer.
Adrienne Boire Received the Neuro-oncology Scientific Award by the American Academy of Neurology
Adrienne Boire, MD, PhD, neurologist and neuro-oncologist, was a recipient of the Neuro-oncology Scientific Award by the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) and supported by friends of Dr. WK Alfred Yung. This award recognizes an individual from any discipline and of any academic rank for a singular scientific achievement that has advanced the field of neuro-oncology.
Anna Kaltsas Inducted into the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2025 Class of Fellows
Anna Kaltsas, MD, infectious disease specialist, was inducted into the 2025 Class of Fellows by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). The IDSA fellowship recognizes individuals whose careers reflect deep curiosity, scientific excellence, and a commitment to compassionate care and health equity.
Ari Hakimi and Martin Voss Received the Idea Development Award
Ari Hakimi, MD, urologic surgeon, and Martin Voss, MD, genitourinary medical oncologist, were selected for the Department of Defense (DOD) Kidney Cancer Idea Development Award. This award is intended to support innovative ideas and high-impact approaches, based on scientifically sound evidence, to move toward the KCRP vision of eliminating kidney cancer.
Jamie Ostroff Awarded the Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award by the American Society of Preventive Oncology
Jamie Ostroff, PhD, psychologist, received the Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award from the American Society of Preventive Oncology (ASPO). The Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award aims to appreciate an individual’s distinguished achievement in continued national tobacco control interventions, through research, through the development of prevention and cessation programs with wide-reaching public health impact, or public policy and advocacy initiatives.
Howard Scher Received the Richard D. Williams, MD Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award
Howard Scher, MD, genitourinary medical oncologist, was awarded the Richard D. Williams, MD Prostate Cancer Research Excellence Award from the Urology Care Foundation. Established in 2013, the Williams Award is named in honor of the late urologist, scientist, mentor, and humanitarian, and is made possible through a fund established by Mrs. Beverly Williams. This award is presented annually to recognize outstanding and impactful research in the field of prostate cancer over the previous ten years.
MSK’s Inpatient Nursing Team Received Press Ganey’s 2024 Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence Award and Guardian of Excellence Award
MSK’s Inpatient Nursing team was awarded Press Ganey’s 2024 Pinnacle of Excellence Award in the Inpatient category. The award recognizes healthcare institutions that have maintained consistently high levels of excellence over three years in patient experience, employee engagement, physicians’ engagement, or clinical quality performance. Additionally, MSK’s Inpatient Nursing was also recognized with the 2024 Guardian of Excellence Award, an honor given annually based on one year of data recognizing organizations that have reached the 95th percentile for patient experience, engagement, or clinical quality performance. Since 2015, MSK has been honored by Press Ganey, a leading research firm and strategic partner organization that evaluates patient satisfaction, for providing outstanding patient experience.
The following awards were given by MSK:
Eight MSK Nurses and a Nursing Team Recognized with the 2025 Robbins Family Award for Nursing Excellence.
Eight distinguished MSK nurses and one nursing team were recognized with the 2025 Robbins Family Award for Nursing Excellence. The Robbins Family Foundation has sponsored the awards to honor MSK nurses’ extraordinary achievements and contributions to MSK’s mission and core values.
The following MSK nurses were recognized for this outstanding service: Christina Carmi, MSN, RN, BMTCN, clinical nurse I; Jessica Uporsky, BSN, RN, OCN, Clinical Nurse IV; Ruth Mills, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, CCRN, clinical nurse specialist; Amy Setesak, BSN, RN, CMSRN, clinical nurse IV; Megan Leary, MS, RN, AGCNS-BC, OCN, clinical nurse specialist; Stacy Ann Thompson Campbell, patient care technician; Juliette Gonzalez, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, PCCN, advanced practice provider III; January Brown, CMRP, manager, planning & implementation, supply chain. The following members of the StatSeal Pilot Group were also recognized for their Excellence in Collaboration: Stephanie Rivera-Gamma, MS, RN, ACCNS-AG, clinical nurse specialist; Brian Hutto, MS, RN, OCN, clinical nurse IV; Megan Leary, MS, RN, AGCNS-BC, OCN, clinical nurse specialist; Kristie Murphy, DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CCNS, CCRN, clinical nurse specialist; Justin Laracy, MD, infectious diseases specialist; Annette Pineiro, MPH, BSN, RN-BC, OCN, nursing professional development specialist; Lereina Tiongson, BSN, RN, CPHQ, infection preventionist, quality, and safety; Abigail Austin, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHIMS, infection preventionist, quality, and safety; Tara Buchholz, MSc, RN, ACNP-BC, associate director of advanced practice providers; Anoshe Aslam, MPH, CIC, associate director of infection prevention & control, quality, and safety; Nicole Krist, MSN, RN, BMTCN, AOCNS, nurse leader of the vascular access team; Natassia Singh, BSN, RN, CCRN, nurse leader of the intensive care unit; Jacqueline Patterson, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, OCN, nurse leader; Natalie Bell, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHQ, senior manager of quality, and safety.
Beatrice Zhang Received the Doris J. Hutchison Fellowship Award
Beatrice Zhang, graduate student in The Benjamin Greenbaum Lab and The Omar Abdel-Wahab Lab, received the Dorris J. Hutchison Graduate Fellowship, an award that recognizes outstanding research under the mentorship of an MSK faculty member.
Young Sun Lee Awarded the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Fellowship Award
Young Sun Lee, MD-PhD candidate, was awarded the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Graduate Fellowship. This award provides support for outstanding young investigators in the Sloan Kettering Institute who are receiving their PhD from the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK). It was established in 1997 with an endowment gift from MSK Board Member Steve Friedman.
Manisha Srinivas Raghavan Received the Bruce Charles Forbes Fellowship Award
Manisha Srinivas Raghavan, MS, graduate student in The Karuna Ganesh Lab, This award provides support for outstanding young investigators in the Sloan Kettering Institute pursuing their PhD thesis research from the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK). It was established in 1995 with an endowment gift from MSK Board Member Steve Forbes, Jr.
Tomasz Kochańczyk Received the Postdoctoral Research Award
Tomasz Kochańczyk, PhD, research fellow in The Chirsopher Lima Lab, and Xueqian Zhuang, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in The Tuomas Tammela Lab, received the Postdoctoral Research Award. This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and the promise shown by research fellows or research associates who have been at MSK for at least one year and have published a significant research paper as first author.
Areej Alsaafin Received the Henry and Alexia Fernandez Computational Fellowship
Areej Alsaafin, PhD, research fellow working in The Nikolaus Schultz Lab, received the Henry and Alexia Fernandez Computational Fellowship. The fellowship supports the career development of the brightest early career computational scientists striving to improve and accelerate cancer research.
Keunwoo Ryu Wins the 2025 Tri-Institutional Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators
Keunwoo Ryu, PhD, postdoctoral fellow in the lab of The Craig Thompson Lab, received the Tri-Institutional Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators. This award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and the promise shown by research fellows or research associates who have been at MSK for at least one year and have published a significant research paper as the first author.
John Maciejowski Awarded the Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research
John Maciejowski, PhD, associate member in the Molecular Biology Program of SKI, received the Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic Research. This award honors researchers at the associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in laboratory investigations.
Eytan Stein Awarded the Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research
Eytan Stein, MD, associate member in the department of medicine and chief of the Leukemia Service, received the Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research. This award honors physicians at the associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in clinical investigations.
Charles Sawyer Received the C. Chester Stock Award
Charles Sawyers, MD, investigator, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis chair, and chair of MSK’s Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, received the C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship. This award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of cancer therapy.
Eileen O’Reilly Awarded the Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence
Eileen O’Reilly, MD, gastrointestinal medical oncologist and co-director for Medical Initiatives in the David M. Rubenstein Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, received the Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence. This award honors a clinician whose talent, dedication, and compassion reflect the standards set by Willet F. Whitmore during his more than 46 years of service at MSK.