National Brain Tumor Society CEO Receives Inaugural Community Service Award at Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting

National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS), the largest nonprofit dedicated to the brain tumor community in the United States, today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, David F. Arons, JD, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Society for Neuro-Oncology’s (SNO) Community Service Award. The award was introduced in 2018 to “recognize a meritorious individual or organization that has made significant contributions to the neuro-oncology community.”

“I am honored and humbled to have been selected as the first-ever recipient of the Community Service Award,” said Mr. Arons. “But this is really a ‘team’ award for the National Brain Tumor Society, including staff members, Board of Directors, advocates, supporters and partner organizations we work with on so many collaborative initiatives. I have the privilege of leading this dedicated group every day and it’s beyond gratifying to see our collective efforts to improve the lives of brain tumor patients recognized by an influential and world-renowned organization like the Society for Neuro-Oncology.”

Mr. Arons was selected by SNO’s leadership and Board of Directors. The organization stated that Mr. Arons’ “work to increase brain tumor awareness, advocate for increased federal funding for research, and drive forward critical new brain tumor legislation has had a tremendous impact on the field.” The group went on to say that the “SNO Board of Directors and leadership enthusiastically agreed that you should be the first recipient of this important award.”

The award presentation will take place on Saturday, November 17 during a plenary session at SNO’s 23rd Annual Scientific Meeting and Education Day in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Patrick Wen, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and the director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, will provide an introduction for Mr. Arons and present the award alongside SNO leadership.

The Society for Neuro-Oncology is the premier North American organization for clinicians, basic scientists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals whose focus is central nervous system tumors in children and adults. SNO works to promote advances in neuro-oncology through research and education.

In addition to accepting his reward, Mr. Arons will serve as a leader for several panel discussions and presentations during the conference, including:

• Arons will join brain tumor patient, and member of NBTS’ Board of Directors, Liz Salmi, as panelists for Thursday’s Education Day session on “Improving Patient Participation in Clinical Trials.”
• Arons will lead a discussion on the impacts of the recently passed Right to Try law on the neuro-oncology field during Thursday’s Education Day Town Hall on “Hot Topics in Neuro-Oncology,” which will also include information from NBTS’ June 2018 Research Roundtable on drug repurposing.
• Arons will co-chair a special session on Friday, “Factors Impacting Clinical Trial Accrual,” and present results from NBTS’ recent survey on patient attitudes, perceptions, and participation in clinical trials, as well as co-present “patient and community factors.”

To read more about National Brain Tumor Society’s participation in the 2018 SNO Scientific Meeting and Education Day, view a press release on the conference here.

Mr. Arons was also recently presented with the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Director’s Service Award for his years of “outstanding and dedicated service” on the institute’s Clinical Trials and Translational Research Advisory Committee.

About National Brain Tumor Society

National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) is the largest nonprofit organization in the U.S. dedicated to the brain tumor community. We are fiercely committed to finding better treatments and driving rapid progress toward a cure for brain tumors. We drive a multi-faceted and thoughtful approach to aggressively influence and fund strategic research, as well as advocate for public policy changes, in order to achieve the greatest impact, results, and progress for brain tumor patients. Money raised by the generous donations of our supporters has directly funded groundbreaking discoveries, programs, clinical trials and policy initiatives. To learn more visit www.braintumor.org

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