In honor of its former Chairman of the Board, the FNIH celebrates its partners through the Charles A. Sanders, MD, Partnership Award. The award recognizes persons or organizations that have made significant contributions to the FNIH’s work to build, implement, and nurture private-public partnerships in support of the mission of the NIH.
The prizes will be awarded at the FNIH 12th Annual Awards Ceremony on October 29, 2024, in Washington, DC.
Please contact the Advancement Office for more information at [email protected].
2024 Award Recipients
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
NINDS, one of the National Institutes of Health’s 27 Institutes and Centers, has partnered with the FNIH on a diverse range of public-private projects. NINDS is the NIH lead for the recently launched Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, AMP Parkinson’s Disease, and the Neurofilament as a Fluid Biomarker of Neurodegeneration in Familial Frontotemporal Degeneration project. NINDS supports future and early-career doctors and scholars with its participation in the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Foundation’s Getch Scholars program for neurosurgeons and its partnership in a summer internship program for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students. Additionally, the FNIH works with NINDS on endowments focused on funding research for muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis and supporting an annual lecture.
AbbVie
For the past 13 years, AbbVie has participated in more than 20 FNIH-managed projects across a broad range of therapeutic areas. As a longstanding partner of the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, AbbVie has helped accelerate and advance discovery and development for biomarkers that support new drug therapeutics, preventive medicine and diagnostics in areas such as osteoarthritis, multiple myeloma and acute myeloid leukemia. AbbVie also has been a partner in several AMP programs, including those focused on Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematous. Additionally, the company has participated in the Convening Experts in Oncology to Address Children’s Health (COACH) project, which seeks to advance therapeutic developments in childhood cancers, and the Lung Cancer Master Protocol (Lung-MAP), a precision medicine trial in non-small cell lung cancer.
Robert and Sarah Newcomb
Robert and Sarah Newcomb are longstanding partners of the FNIH. In 2001 they established a memorial fund to honor their late son, Robert Whitney Newcomb, PhD, and further his work on brain research and the chemical basis of stroke and aging at NINDS. Dr. Newcomb began research at NIH when in high school and continued later with a postdoctoral NIH grant. The Robert Whitney Newcomb Memorial Fund has provided substantial support in training and educational opportunities at the Institute. This contribution has funded 21 annual lectures on neurobiology and 27 high school internships in the laboratory of Susan Wray PhD, of the Cellular and Developmental Biology Section, and post-baccalaureate fellowships. Family, friends, and colleagues of Dr. Newcomb have generously contributed to the Fund, with the commitment to continue supporting educational opportunities at NINDS.
Selection Committee
The Partnership Award recipients are selected by a committee comprised of the following FNIH Board members:
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Charles A. Sanders, MD
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Steven M. Paul, MD
Chairman, Board of Directors
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Judy Lansing Kovler, PhD
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Mr. Fred A. Seigel
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Solomon H. Snyder, MD
Previous Recipients
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2023Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of NIH’s 27 Institutes and Centers, has been an instrumental member of the FNIH’s public-private partnerships and is committed to developing collaborations that support global maternal and child health. The NICHD and the FNIH worked together to manage programs initiated by NICHD’s Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research with additional support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These collaborations centered on two significant clinical trial projects in critical areas of maternal health: The Azithromycin Prevention in Labor Use Study (A-PLUS) study and the ongoing Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia Post-Delivery (PRIORITY) trial.
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2023GSK
For the past 25 years, GSK has collaborated across multiple FNIH projects, supporting more than 35 programs. As longstanding partners of the Biomarkers Consortium, GSK has helped accelerate and advance discovery, development, and regulatory approval for biomarkers that support new drug therapeutics, preventive medicine, and diagnostics. GSK has also committed to a number of Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) Programs, including a major research program aimed at advancing Alzheimer’s disease treatment. The company’s support of tuberculosis research is helping to address the prevalence of tuberculosis and seek solutions to improve treatments. Additionally, because of GSK’s endowment, the FNIH has been able to support families staying at the Edmond J. Safra Family Lodge by offering services that help residents remain near to loved ones being treated at the NIH Clinical Center.
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2023The O’Neill family
Brian O'Neill
For 20 years, the O’Neill family has partnered with the FNIH to raise visibility and funds for kidney cancer research. The Dean R. O’Neill Renal Cell Cancer Research Fund supports research fellowships in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Childs at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to search for a cure for renal cell carcinoma. To date, fellowships have supported the work of ten distinguished scientists. Dr. Childs’ group initiated a novel immunotherapy trial exploring the potential of natural killer cell infusions to treat the most advanced form of kidney cancer. The team also discovered that allogeneic stem cell transplants can induce powerful immune effects against kidney cancer that in some cases can lead to sustained regression of metastatic disease. Most recently, one of the fellows discovered a relic from an ancient virus that integrated into human DNA, leading to a first-in-human clinical trial for kidney cancer.
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2022Francis Collins, MD, PhD
Dr. Francis Collins robustly supported the mission of the FNIH during his tenure as NIH Director, advancing a remarkable list of initiatives. His work as Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute expanded the promise of DNA in medical research, enabling the FNIH’s first major partnership with the institute and the Genetic Association Information Network to create a significant resource for genetic researchers.
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2022Amgen
Over many years, Amgen’s partnership with FNIH has had a strong impact on several initiatives, from clinical trials to mentorships to educational programs. Amgen has provided generous financial and scientific support to the FNIH’s research programs in cancer, immunotherapy, cardiometabolic disease, and precision medicine. Amgen has also supported major projects for lung cancer and lymphoma, precision analysis of clinical trial results, and acceleration of cancer therapies.
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2021Janssen Research & Development, LLC
Janssen Research & Development, LLC, has been an exemplary partner and leader across many FNIH projects and programs, including ACTIV; several Accelerating Medicines Partnerships®; the Biomarkers Consortium; the Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT); and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI).
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2021Co-Chairs of the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Working Groups
The Working Group Co-Chairs participated in hundreds of meetings, reporting regularly to the ACTIV Leadership Team, and devoted valuable time and effort to identify opportunities for and help resolve challenges to the partnership. They have been invaluable to the ability of ACTIV to navigate the ever-changing scientific and political landscape during this all-encompassing global pandemic.
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2020Dr. Anthony S. Fauci
Dr. Fauci was honored for his legacy of leadership and ongoing support of FNIH programs propelling research in lethal infectious diseases, most recently for Covid-19.
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2019The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) and Jane Sayer, PhD
DDCF and Dr. Jane Sayer were recognized for their longstanding support in advancing transformative NIH training and awards programs that empower future and current researchers, in addition to helping further the mission of the Foundation.
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2018Andrew Lee
Through his unwavering commitment to advancing biomedical research on rare kidney cancers, in just over two years, Andrew, President & CEO of Driven the Cure, has developed a powerful grassroots movement that has increased visibility about rare kidney cancers and raised funds for the FNIH to further cutting-edge research conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the NIH Clinical Center.
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2017Richard J. Hodes, MD and Eli Lilly & Company
Through their longstanding work with the FNIH over more than a decade, Dr. Hodes and Lilly have advanced trailblazing biomedical research in critical disease areas, including age-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, and helped structure innovative public-private partnerships.
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2016Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Pfizer
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was recognized for its longstanding and generous partnership with the FNIH, which has spurred scientific and technical innovations leading to transformative advances in global health research. Pfizer was recognized for its unwavering and sustained commitment for nearly two decades as a vital partner to the FNIH in funding scientific programs that have laid the groundwork for biomedical breakthroughs.
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