Each year, IASLC presents several awards to clinicians and investigators who have made significant contributions to the treatment of patients with lung cancer. Awardees are invited to the World Conference on Lung Cancer to receive their awards and deliver a forward-looking, state-of-the-art lecture about their area of expertise.
For the first time at WCLC 2023, these award lectures will take place during one dedicated plenary session. Plenary Session 2: IASLC Lectureship Award Presentations will take place from 08:30 – 10:30 SGT on Sunday, September 10, in room 406. The session will also be available live and on-demand for virtual attendees.

Plenary Session 2: IASLC Lectureship Award Presentations
08:30-10:30 SGT
Sunday, September 10, Room 406
The Lectureship Awards honor members in several disciplines, including radiation oncology, medical oncology, small cell lung cancer, nursing/allied health, translational research, thoracic surgery, staging, and tobacco control.
“Our members and their work is what makes the IASLC the leading authority on thoracic malignancy, so it is an honor to recognize their work in a prominent manner and a privilege to hear from these accomplished leaders in our field,” said IASLC CEO Karen Kelly, MD, who will co-chair the session with IASLC President Heather Wakelee, MD.
The following honorees will present lectures during the session.
IASLC Lectureship Award for Tobacco Control and Smoking Cessation
Silvia Novello, MD, PhD

Prof. Novello is full professor of Medical Oncology in the Oncology Department at San Luigi Hospital in Orbassano, Italy, part of the University of Turin. She earned her medical degree and completed postgraduate training in respiratory medicine and medical oncology at the University of Turin and the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris.
Currently, she heads the Thoracic Oncology Unit and is deputy director of the Oncology Department at the San Luigi Hospital, where she also teaches medical students and postgraduate students respiratory medicine and medical oncology. Prof. Novello’s research interests include thoracic malignancies, primary prevention, gender differences in lung cancer, and basic, translational, and clinical applied research on lung cancer and mesothelioma, including pharmacogenomics. She is involved as principal investigator in many international and national controlled clinical trials evaluating new approaches in diagnosis and lung cancer therapy.
Prof. Novello served on the IASLC Board of Directors from 2012-2016. She is the author or co-author of more then 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
Clifton F. Mountain Lectureship Award for Staging
Navneet Singh, MD, DM

Dr. Navneet Singh is a thoracic medical oncologist and tenured full professor in the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. He is the coordinator-cum-convener for PGIMER’s multidisciplinary thoracic oncology group that received the Lung Cancer Care Team Award (Overall Winner and Winner from Asia/Rest of World) from IASLC in 2019. Dr. Singh has more than 200 publications in peer reviewed medical journals, has authored several chapters in books and was a nominated member of IASLC’s Publications Committee for two successive terms. He has served on IASLC’s Staging and Prognostic Factors, Education, and Membership Committees as well as invited faculty and program committee member for WCLC.
Tsuguo Naruke Lectureship Award for Surgery
Alan Sihoe, MBBChir

Dr. Shioe is a consultant in cardiothoracic surgery at Gleneagles Hong Kong Hospital and guest professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Tongji University Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital. He is also associate editor of the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and section editor of the Asian Cardio-Vascular and Thoracic Annals. Dr. Shioe also serves as international director of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He is recognized internationally as an advocate of next generation minimally invasive video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) techniques—especially uniportal and needlescopic chest surgery. He has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, conference abstracts, and book chapters in the international literature.
Daniel C. Ihde Lectureship Award for Medical Oncology

D. Ross Camidge, PhD, MRCP
Dr. Camidge is a professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Joyce Zeff Chair in Lung Cancer Research at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. He is also director of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Colorado Hospital and program director of the Thoracic Oncology Clinical and Translational Research Fellowship in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Robert J. Ginsberg Lectureship Award for Surgery
Jessica Donington, MD

Dr. Donington is professor of Surgery and chief of the Thoracic Surgery section at the University of Chicago. She is an expert thoracic surgeon who treats the full spectrum of lung, esophageal and mediastinal conditions. In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Donington is an avid researcher. Her research focus is in the discovery of novel biomarkers for early detection and treatment of lung cancer and clinical trials that incorporate surgery into multimodality care plans for locally advanced and metastatic lung cancer. Dr. Donington is a past president of Women in Thoracic Surgery and the New York Society for Thoracic Surgery and serves on the editorial boards for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery and the Journal of Thoracic Oncology.
James D. Cox Lectureship Award for Radiation Oncology
Rafal Dziadziuszko, MD, PhD

Prof. Dziadziuszko’s is a full professor of medicine and head of the Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy at Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland. Prof. Dziadziuszko’s main interests include lung cancer translational and clinical research, and he is a co-author of more than 170 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on this topic, including the lung cancer chapter in a recent edition of the Oxford textbook of Oncology. His current work includes identification of novel molecular targets for early lung cancer trials, evaluation of novel radiotherapy strategies in thoracic malignancies and research on lung cancer screening programs. He has been involved in EGFR, IGF-1R, HER2, ALK, ROS1, MET and immune checkpoint translational and clinical research.
Heine H. Hansen Lectureship Award for Small Cell Lung Cancer
Jie Wang, MD

Dr. Wang is chair of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and chief physician at Peking Union Medical College, Beijing. She is also vice chair of the Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology, chair of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association multidisciplinary management of cancer committee, and vice chair of the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association Lung Cancer Professional Committee. Her research interests include circulating tumor DNA, EGFR mutation, and disease heterogeneity in non-small cell lung cancer.
Fred R. Hirsch Lectureship Award for Translational Research
Wendy Cooper, MBBS, PhD

Dr. Cooper is senior staff specialist of Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and Anatomical Pathology Clinical Stream Lead at NSW Health Pathology. She is also clinical professor at Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney and conjoint professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Western Sydney. Dr. Cooper also chairs the IASLC Pathology committee and is an editor of the 5th edition of the WHO Classification of Thoracic Tumors.
IASLC Lectureship Award for Nurses and Allied Health Professionals (NAHP)
Melissa Culligan, RN, BSN, MSc

Dr. Culligan is director of Clinical Research for the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Temple University Hospital. She has more than 30 years of experience working in the field of thoracic surgery with a special focus and expertise in caring for patients with mesothelioma and advanced stage lung cancer. Ms. Culligan is the co-author of multiple peer-reviewed papers on the topics of lung cancer and mesothelioma and has lectured nationally and internationally on the nursing care of patients undergoing thoracic surgery. She has a special interest in clinical trial development and management for thoracic oncology patients and leads multiple surgery-based clinical trials at Temple University Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. Her doctoral research is focused on the experience of dyspnea for patients undergoing lung-sparing surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma.