The Duane Roth Achievement Award recognizes and honors patient-focused leaders in health care whose work has overcome scientific, financial, institutional, political and cultural challenges to create new paradigms in research and treatment. Named after Duane Roth, an esteemed leader in the biotech industry who died tragically following a bicycle accident in 2013, the award is given to those in memoriam who demonstrate his deep commitment to innovation and patients. 

Past recipients include: Laura Esserman, M.D., MBA, UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center; Brian Druker, M.D., Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University; Dennis Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center; Sandra Horning, M.D., Executive Vice President, Global Development and Chief Medical Officer, Genentech; Carl June, M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; Susan Band Horwitz, Ph.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine;  Scott Gottlieb, M.D., 23rd Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA); Dennis Carson, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine, UC San Diego; and Kristen M. Hege, M.D., Bristol Myers Squibb. Biographies of past winners and their accomplishments are within this website, along with our 2023 Recipient. The Duane Roth Achievement Award Committee is composed of all past recipients of the Award. This body is tasked with selecting the awardee annually.