Dr. Douglas Wood Receives Prestigious NCCN Award for Advancing Cancer Care

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has awarded ACS Regent Douglas E. Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd, its prestigious Rodger Winn Award for his work on NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology, particularly for his leadership role in the development of Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines.

Dr. Wood founded and has chaired the NCCN Lung Cancer Screening Guideline Panel since its inception in 2009. As chair, he was unwavering in his commitment to developed recommendations and served as a public representative in many forums to champion the new guidelines and present the rationale for the structure of the recommendations.

At the time, the guidelines set a controversial precedent for recommending a “Group 2” of patients that should be offered lung cancer screening. The guidelines received widespread attention, precipitated controversy, and challenged the oncology community. Over time, the panel’s identification of an expanded population appropriate for screening proved to be correct, and contemporary screening criteria now include that group routinely.

Dr. Wood, who is the Henry N. Harkins Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle, is the first cardiothoracic surgeon and the third surgeon to receive the Rodger Winn Award.

“I am truly honored and humbled by this recognition,” Dr. Wood said. “I am so appreciative of the incredible NCCN staff that I am privileged to work with, and the other volunteers that I learn from year after year. The work we do together at NCCN is so important to minimize unjustified practice variation, support clinicians to keep up to date with rapidly changing practice, educate and empower patients about their treatment options, and improve cancer care nationally and worldwide.”

The recipient of the Rodger Winn Awards provides a voice for the mission of the NCCN, to improve and facilitate quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care for all patients.