ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation, is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2025 Quality Care Symposium Merit Awards. 

These distinguished awards recognize first authors on top-ranking abstracts selected for presentation at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium on October 10–11, 2025, in Chicago, IL. Each of the following 42 oncology professionals are recognized for their respective field and research advancements within the cancer care community: 

Omer Ashruf, MD, Northeast Ohio Medical University 

Justin Barnes, MD, MS, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis 

John Bassler, Center for AIDS Research, The University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Cara Berkowitz, MD, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine 

Yenong Cao, MD, PhD, Tufts Medical Center 

Michael Caplan, MD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center 

Lauren Cueto, MPH, Yale School of Public Health 

Kathleen Cui, BA, University of California, San Francisco 

Lauren Curry, MD, BC Cancer Vancouver 

Sunil Dommaraju, MD, BS, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine 

Nickolas Dreher, MD, Columbia University Irving Medical Center 

Charlotte Early, BS, UNC School of Medicine

Jincong Freeman, MPH, MS, UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center 

Manasi Ghatge, MD, The Permanente Medical Group 

Jisel Gomez, BS, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine 

Jayden Gracie, MD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center 

Jared Gregston, BS, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center College of Medicine 

Sara Haddad, MD, Cleveland Clinic Foundation 

Lixin Kang, MPH, Washington University in St. Louis 

Margaret Katana Ogongo, PhD, MPH, MS, American Cancer Society 

Madelyn Klugman, MD, MS, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 

Margaret Locke, MD, Zuckerberg Cancer Center, Northwell Health 

Chuan Lu, MD, MPH, UT Southwestern Medical Center 

Mariah Mack, MD, Gundersen Health System 

Megan Nguyen, The Medical University of South Carolina 

Sandra Olisakwe, MSPH, The University of Alabama at Birmingham 

Lauren Reed-Guy, MD, University of Pennsylvania 

Yashasvini Sampathkumar, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

Zouina Sarfraz, MBBS, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida 

Pranati Shah, DO, Loma Linda University Health 

Matthew Siskin, MD, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Health 

Amara Sofia, MD, The New York Medical College Graduate Medical Education Program at St. Mary's General Hospital and Saint Clare's Health 

Aminah Tayyab, MD, MBBS, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 

Hao To, MD, University of Washington 

Philip Tracy, MD, Tufts Medical Center, Department of Hematology/Oncology 

Shannon Ugarte, MD, University of Pennsylvania 

Chalothorn Wannaphut, MD, University of Hawai`i John A. Burns School of Medicine 

James Wu, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin 

Jenny Xiang, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center 

Jiazhang Xing, MD, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore 

Jamie Zeal, MD, MS, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 

Jian Zhao, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

SUPPORTERS: 

The 2025 Conquer Cancer Merit Awards are generously supported by Terri Armstrong, Chris Armstrong, and Mark Gilbert; ASCO Employees; Association of Northern California Oncologists; AstraZeneca; Friends and Family of Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller; Dr. and Mrs. Douglas W. Blayney; Bristol Myers Squibb; Jonathan K. and Cora Y. Cho Charitable Fund; Friends, Family, and Colleagues of Dr. Cecil "Pete" Coggins; Michael Craig Cox, PharmD, MHS, BCOP; Trailblazing patient Mark A. Crafts and Generous Supporters of Team Crafty; Bill and Karen Dahut; Allison Dray; Eisai Inc.; Estate of Darla C. Ellis; Epiphany Partners, Inc.; Flatiron Health, Inc.; GSK; Harborside; Friends, Colleagues, and Family of Joe Hogan; John Hohneker, MD and Donald Vincent; Melissa M. Hudson, MD, FASCO and Albert E. Weeks, MD; Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc.; Kimberly Irvine; Drs. Kevin Kalinsky and Christopher Keir; Family of Diane L. Keith; Nicole M. Kuderer, MD and Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, FASCO; Natasha B. Leighl, MD, FASCO; William T. Leslie, MD; Lilly; Bora Lim, MD and Pavlos Msaouel, MD, PhD; Loxo Oncology Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company; Maryland/District of Columbia Society of Clinical Oncology; Friends and Colleagues of Theresa Mays; Melanoma Research Foundation; Therese Marie Mulvey, MD, FASCO; Friends and Family of Dr. James B. Nachman; New Rhein Healthcare, LLC; Friends and Colleagues of Dr. Larry Norton; Dr. Debra Patt; Dr. Kathleen Pritchard Medicine Professional Corporation; The QuadW Foundation; Gabrielle Betty Rocque, MD, MSPH; Sarah Cannon Research Institute; Frances A. Shepherd, MD, FASCO; Stephen A. Sherwin, MD; Drs. Rachna and Puneet Shroff; ASCO’s State Affiliate Council; Paul and Judith Spiegel; Stemline, Inc, a Menarini Group Company; Supporters of Innovations and Research in Medical Education; Syndax Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Nizar M. Tannir, MD; Anthony and Marilyn Tolcher; Dr. Michael and Deborah Troner; and William S. Yaus, Jeffrey W. Yaus, and Kathleen Y. Wolin, ScD. (This listing is current as of July 28, 2025.)