Organization: American Cancer Society
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Industry: Non-profit
Hometown:Â Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Notable in 2023: Launched joint venture with Color Health for cancer screening and prevention covering up to 150 million Americans.
While the risk of dying from cancer has steadily declined over the last decade, the fight against cancer is far from over. In fact, according to the American Cancer Society, new cancer cases in the U.S. in 2024 are expected to exceed two million, the first time it will pass that mark.
That is putting more impetus on being screened for cancer, a top priority for both the ACS and its CEO, Dr. Karen E. Knudsen.
Knudsen, who became ACS's first female CEO in its more than 100 years of existence in April 2021, has helped the organization accelerate its progress towards saving lives that have been impacted by cancer.
I tell my lab all the time, 'The way that you show love to people that you work with is by challenging their concepts and really making sure that they’ve thought through it. Do they have a good strategy? Is there an alternative plan?' As a scientist, that’s how we show the love, and as a leader, that’s how we’ve developed an effective team.Dr. Karen KnudsenChief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society
In June, the ACS partnered with health-care delivery platform Color Health to provide accessible and comprehensive cancer prevention and screening solutions to more than 150 million Americans who receive health care through either an employer or a union.
The partnership tackles a key issue: even Americans with health insurance find accessing cancer preventive services challenging. For most major cancers, early diagnosis can not only reduce costs related to late-stage cancer diagnosis but can significantly impact survival rates.
With nearly 40% of Americans expected to develop cancer at some point in their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute, preventing cancers is a critical goal. The Biden administration has also made it a priority, pushing ahead with the White House Cancer Moonshot initiative that Biden first launched as vice president, and which aims to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years.
Knudsen and the ACS are playing a key role in that public-private sector partnership.
"Ending cancer as we know it, for everyone, requires collaboration, cooperation, and integrated work plans that address the entire cancer continuum — from prevention and detection, to treatment and survivorship," Knudsen said in a June ACS statement.
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