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Awardees

Vinod Khosla

DANS Leadership Award

It is our pleasure to announce Vinod Khosla as the winner of the inaugural DANS Leadership Award. The DANS Leadership Award honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the DataAI field (data analytics and artificial intelligence technologies combined). Vinod is a pioneer and a tireless advocate of the field. He is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, the founder of Khosla Ventures, and has contributed in the creation of several successful companies in the DataAI sector. Join us in congratulating him on this wonderful recognition of his merits.

Franklin Urteaga

DANS Public Service Award

It is our pleasure to announce Franklin Urteaga as the winner of the inaugural DANS Public Service Award. The DANS Public Service Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding national leadership in support of technology and/or healthcare innovation in the US. Franklin has served the White House as a Technology Policy Adviser and also has contributed to the creation of several successful companies to revolutionize the way people use internet. Join us in congratulating him on this wonderful recognition of his merits.

Gary Starling, PhD, AVP Merck

DANS Clinical Development Award

It is our pleasure to announce Gary Starling, PhD, Assoc. VP, and Merck as the winner of DANS Excellence Clinical Development Award in regards to KEYTRUDA. Dr. Starling’s career has been focused on the discovery and early development of biologic therapeutics. He held key positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, CuraGen, PDL BioPharma, Facet Biotech (acquired by Abbott Labs) and Merck. He heads the Protein Science Department at Merck that drives the discovery of Biologics for all of Merck’s disease areas including Immuno-Oncology. Join us in congratulating Merck and Dr. Starling on this wonderful recognition.

Atul Butte, MD, PhD, UC Health

Clinical Data Integration & Management Award
It is our pleasure to announce Atul Butte, MD, PhD, Chief Data Scientist, and UC Health, as the winner of DANS Clinical Data Integration & Management Award. Dr. Butte is the Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor and inaugural Director of the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF. Dr. Butte is also the Chief Data Scientist for the entire UC Health System, with 17 health professional schools, 6 medical centers, and 10 hospitals. He has also contributed in the creation of several successful companies in the DataAI sector. Join us in congratulating UC Health and Dr. Butte on this wonderful recognition.

Ira Mellman, VP, Genentech, Roche

Leadership Award in Cancer Immunology

It is our pleasure to announce Ira Mellman, VP, Cancer Immunology, Genentech, Roche, as the winner of AAPM Leadership Award in Cancer Immunology. Ira came to Genentech in the Spring of 2007 as VP of Research Oncology, after more than 20 years as a faculty member at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he was a department chair, scientific director of the Yale Cancer Center, and Sterling Professor of Cell Biology and Immunobiology. Dr. Mellman is a thought leader, who has made seminal contributions to the field of cancer immunology. Join us in congratulating Ira Mellman, Genentech and Roche on this wonderful recognition.

Pankaj Bhargava, MD, VP, Gilead Sciences

Excellence in Transformative Therapy Award

It is our pleasure to announce Bhargava, MD, VP, Oncology TA Head, Gilead Sciences with the AAPM Excellence in Transformative Therapy Award in regards to the development of CART immunotherapy -Yescarta™, which is at the forefront of precision medicine for the treatment of lymphoid cancers. Dr. Bhargava also currently serves as a faculty at UCSF, and was previously a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Attending Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Bhargava, Kite Pharma (a Gilead subsidiary), and Gilead Sciences on this wonderful recognition.

Dinesh Kotak, MD, Chair-DTL, Kaiser Permanente

Excellence in Oncology Care Award

It is our pleasure to announce Dinesh Kotak, MD, Chair, Departmental Technology Leads and Kaiser Permanente with the AAPM Excellence in Oncology Care Award in regards to their commitment to provide the highest quality compassionate care, in their 125+ oncology groups, to over 4.25 million members. Dr. Kotak is an innovator, physician and health IT-leader at Kaiser, responsible for a group of physicians/technology leaders from 17 centers, who are at the forefront of using technology to better serve cancer patients. Join us in congratulating Dr. Kotak and Kaiser Permanente on this wonderful recognition.

Gordon Theilen DVM, UC Davis

Distinguished Emeritus Award

Thrilled to share that Gordon Theilen DVM, ACVIM-Oncology, Emeritus Professor UC Davis as the winner of Distinguished Emeritus Award for Excellence in Veterinary Oncology. He and his colleagues isolated retroviruses causing sarcomas: Reticuloendotheliosis, Snyder-Theilen Feline and Simian Sarcoma Virus (SSV). Leukemogenesis has been the main focus of his research career. He is a founding member Veterinary Cancer Society (VCS) and an author of a book “One Medicine War on Cancer.” Join us in congratulating Gordan Theilen and UCDavis, on this wonderful recognition.