Left to right: 2023–2024 AACR President Philip D. Greenberg, MD, FAACR; AACR Chief Executive Officer Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc); and 2022–2023 AACR President Lisa M. Coussens, PhD, FAACR.

Dear Colleagues and Friends of the AACR:

We are pleased to present the 2023 Annual Impact Report of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The report highlights the AACR’s extraordinary progress and innovation during the past year in support of our mission: to prevent and cure all cancers through research, education, communication, collaboration, research funding, and science policy and advocacy.

The theme of the AACR Annual Meeting 2023, “Advancing the Frontiers of Cancer Science and Medicine,” is also the theme of this report. The report outlines all the ways in which the AACR’s programs and initiatives support the efforts of scientists and physicians across the full spectrum of cancer research to foster innovation and improve the lives of patients with cancer.

As the report documents, 2023 was an amazing banner year for the AACR! The organization forged new collaborations and strengthened existing ones to drive progress against cancer. The AACR Cancer Centers Alliance—the culmination of a series of meetings of cancer center directors that the AACR convened starting in mid-2022—was formally launched at a press conference in Washington, DC, with the goal of markedly expanding the scope and impact of these leading institutions to improve patient care. In addition, Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) extended and expanded its productive partnership with the AACR, solidifying our critical role as its Scientific Partner by giving the AACR exclusive responsibility for administering the groundbreaking SU2C grants program. And 2023 marked a new era in the AACR’s long-standing collaboration with UT Health San Antonio to present the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium —the largest and most important breast cancer meeting in the world.

This year of transformation included a gift of support that will shape the AACR’s ability to advance our mission. In December, Pfizer Inc. announced that it had chosen to donate the rights of its royalties from the sale of Bavencio® (avelumab) in the United States to the AACR—a gift that will accelerate the AACR’s efforts to advance cutting-edge science and develop lifesaving discoveries to elevate patient care.

As we look back on a spectacular year of partnerships, it is clear that the common thread uniting these transformational relationships is the AACR’s reputation for innovation and scientific leadership. The AACR was selected to receive Pfizer’s impactful donation because of our sustained innovation in cancer research and the peerless abilities of our members, staff, and leadership. These organizational qualities inspired SU2C, UT Health San Antonio, and the nation’s cancer center directors to forge these new and stronger alliances in pursuit of our shared mission. Through these pioneering partnerships, the AACR will continue to advance the frontiers of cancer science and medicine—and to expand the frontiers of hope for cancer patients, caregivers, and their families.