Kamal Named ASCO Advocacy Champion for Second Year

Arif Kamal, MD, MHS, MBA, FAAHPM, FASCO, will be formally named an Advocacy Champion by the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) during the association’s 2020 Advocacy Summit on September 16. Kamal is a medical oncologist, palliative medicine specialist, and associate professor of Medicine, Business Administration, and Population Health Sciences at Duke Cancer Institute.

According to ASCO, Advocacy Champions are "ASCO volunteers who have made meaningful contributions to ASCO’s advocacy activities throughout the year to ensure that every patient with cancer has access to high-quality, high-value cancer care, no matter who they are or where they live."

Advocates speak with federal lawmakers and agencies, send personalized letters to Members of Congress through ASCO’s ACT Network, engage with state lawmakers on policy priorities at the state-level, and host site visits for lawmakers in their home states and districts.

“Congratulations to this year’s Advocacy Champions," said ASCO Government Relations Committee Chair Carolyn Hendricks, MD, FASCO. "Their continued efforts to educate Congress on the promise and challenges of providing high-quality cancer care are important during the best of times, and they become absolutely critical during a global pandemic. Through the unwavering commitment of these dedicated advocates, we can continue our work to advance policies that will improve access to high-quality, equitable care for people with cancer.”

Throughout the past year, Kamal has participated in several local, state, and national conversations regarding cancer policy as a member of the ASCO Government Relations Committee, ASCO Quality Publications Task Force, and ASCO Quality of Care Council. He also serves as a faculty and improvement coach with ASCO's Quality Training Program.

Kamal was also named an ASCO Advocacy Champion in 2019.

He was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO) in 2019 as well. The FASCO distinction honors members for their extraordinary volunteer service and dedication to ASCO. The award was designed to honor ASCO’s most active volunteer members and to encourage more members to become involved in volunteer activities.