Providence’s Mike Abrams receives Lymphoma Research Foundation National Leadership Award

NEW YORK, N.Y – The Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF) announced on Oct. 17 that Providence resident Mike Abrams has been awarded its Ellen Glesby Cohen Leadership Award. LRF is the nation’s largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to funding innovative lymphoma research and providing people with lymphoma and healthcare professionals with critical information on the disease.

“I am honored to receive this award from the Lymphoma Research Foundation and to be recognized in this way,” said Abrams. “My work with the Foundation in New England and efforts to grow our advocacy presence here are incredibly meaningful to me.”

Abrams is the LRF Massachusetts Advocacy Chair. In this role, he organizes local efforts to ensure that the voice of the lymphoma community is being heard by federal lawmakers. He has been responsible for coordinating meetings between members of Congress and lymphoma patients, letters to the editor campaigns, and advocate recruitment and education activities. In addition, Abrams has been steadfast in the Foundation’s efforts to pass oral chemotherapy parity legislation at the federal level.

“Mike has dedicated countless hours to creating a vibrant community of advocates in New England,” said Meghan Gutierrez, LRF Chief Communications Officer and Director of the LRF Advocacy Program. “He has also been a stalwart in the Foundation’s fight to ensure that patients are not subjected to outrageous cost sharing for oral cancer therapies and keeping cancer care affordable for every patient. It is only because of the efforts of extraordinary leaders like Mike that we are able to advance our policy priorities and, ultimately, our mission.”

The LRF leadership award is named for Ellen Glesby Cohen, President and founder of the Lymphoma Research Foundation of America, one of LRF’s predecessor organizations. Glesby Cohen founded the organization in response to her own battle with Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and became a tireless patient advocate. The award recognizes outstanding volunteer leadership and dedication to the lymphoma community.

The award was presented to Abrams by Gutierrez and LRF Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Thompson before an audience of 500 people during the North American Educational Forum on Lymphoma, the nation’s premier educational conference for people with the disease, held this year in New York City.

LRF is the nation’s largest non-profit organization devoted to funding innovative research and serving the lymphoma community through a comprehensive series of education programs, outreach initiatives and patient services. To date, LRF has awarded more than $54 million to lymphoma-specific research.

For more information on LRF’s research, education and services: lymphoma.org