Julie Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), was honored with the MedNews Week Global Oncology Leadership Award during ASCO Breakthrough 2026 in Singapore.
The recognition acknowledged Dr. Gralow’s longstanding leadership in oncology, including her commitment to mentorship, international collaboration, clinical research, survivorship, and more equitable cancer care around the world.
Responding to the recognition, Dr. Gralow wrote:
“Thanks Yan Leyfman, MD and MedNews Week for all of your coverage of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Breakthrough 2026 – and for this very special award.”
A Recognition at a Global Oncology Meeting
ASCO Breakthrough 2026 brought together the international oncology community in Singapore from June 25 to 27, creating a platform for scientific exchange, multidisciplinary discussion, and collaboration across regions.
For Dr. Gralow, whose career has consistently connected academic oncology, clinical trials, patient advocacy, and global health, the setting was particularly meaningful. Her work has extended far beyond one institution, one disease area, or one country. It has focused on a central question facing oncology worldwide: how can progress in cancer research and treatment reach more patients, in more settings, with fewer barriers?
The MedNews Week Global Oncology Leadership Award recognized this broader contribution to the field. It reflected a career shaped not only by research and professional leadership, but also by a sustained effort to bring patients, clinicians, advocates, policymakers, and researchers into the same conversation.
Leading ASCO Through a Changing Era in Cancer Care
Dr. Gralow serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of ASCO, one of the world’s leading professional organizations in oncology.
In this role, she helps guide ASCO’s medical and scientific priorities at a time when cancer care is becoming increasingly complex. Advances in precision medicine, immunotherapy, molecular testing, clinical trial design, survivorship, and health policy have created new opportunities for patients, but they have also made access, education, and implementation more urgent.
Her leadership at ASCO reflects a career-long interest in turning scientific progress into practical improvements in cancer care. This includes supporting high-quality evidence, strengthening professional education, advancing clinical research, and addressing disparities between well-resourced and under-resourced health systems.
Before joining ASCO full-time, Dr. Gralow spent more than 25 years at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where she directed the Breast Medical Oncology Program and served as an Affiliate Professor of Global Health. She was also affiliated with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and served as Director of Breast Medical Oncology at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
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A Career Built in Breast Cancer Research and Clinical Trials
Dr. Gralow is internationally recognized for her work in breast cancer clinical care, research, and survivorship.
Throughout her academic career, she contributed to studies spanning breast cancer prevention, treatment, and long-term survivorship. She also held major leadership roles within the SWOG Cancer Research Network, including Executive Officer for Breast and Lung Cancer and Vice Chair of the Breast Cancer Committee.
These positions placed her at the center of cooperative group research, where large clinical trials can answer questions that may not otherwise be addressed through commercially sponsored studies. Her work in this setting has supported evidence generation across the continuum of care, from prevention and early-stage disease to metastatic cancer and survivorship.
Her clinical and research background has also shaped her approach to leadership. Dr. Gralow has consistently emphasized that oncology is not only about developing new therapies. It is also about ensuring that patients can access appropriate care, understand their options, and receive support throughout treatment and beyond.
Global Oncology as a Lifelong Commitment
Global cancer care has remained one of the defining themes of Dr. Gralow’s career.
She founded the Women’s Empowerment Cancer Advocacy Network, known as WE CAN, to support cancer education, advocacy, and collaboration in low- and middle-resource settings. Through this work, she has helped bring together patient advocates, clinicians, government representatives, and community leaders to address breast and cervical cancer care in countries where resources and access may be limited.
Her advocacy has also informed her work within ASCO. Dr. Gralow previously chaired the ASCO Academic Global Oncology Task Force and co-chaired the Resource-Stratified Guideline Advisory Group. These efforts have focused on making cancer guidance more useful across diverse health systems, recognizing that recommendations must account for differences in infrastructure, workforce capacity, diagnostics, medicines, and supportive care.
In 2018, Dr. Gralow received the ASCO Humanitarian Award for her work empowering women with cancer and cancer survivors globally.
Mentorship, Survivorship, and the Human Side of Oncology
Dr. Gralow’s leadership has also been shaped by her commitment to the lives patients lead beyond the clinic.
In 1995, she co-founded Team Survivor Northwest, an organization that supports women affected by cancer through fitness, activity, and community. The initiative reflects her longstanding belief that survivorship care should include physical well-being, social connection, and confidence after diagnosis and treatment.
This patient-centered perspective has made her an influential mentor for oncologists, trainees, advocates, and early-career professionals. Her work has shown that leadership in oncology can include scientific rigor and institutional responsibility while remaining closely connected to the daily realities of patients and families.
The MedNews Week Global Oncology Leadership Award recognizes that full scope of contribution: a clinician-scientist and leader whose work has advanced breast cancer research, strengthened international oncology partnerships, supported patient advocacy, and helped shape a more connected global cancer community.
Written by Nare Hovhannisyan, MD
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