2026 President’s Address: “The Science and Practice of Translation: Improving Cancer Outcomes Worldwide”

As ASCO members, we are part of the largest collective force dedicated to fighting cancer worldwide, with more than 50,000 members, about 40% of whom are international, hailing from more than 170 countries. And these aren’t just numbers. They represent responsibility—our responsibility—to promote scientific integrity and high-quality cancer care all over the world.

Because discovery alone is not enough—it’s about what becomes of what we discover. It’s about translation. We have a duty, a mission, to translate scientific breakthroughs like the ones we’ll learn about this week into positive outcomes for every patient, every cancer, everywhere. Let me explain why this responsibility is deeply personal to me, and why I chose translation as my presidential theme.

I was born and raised in Mexico City. My parents were U.S. citizens: union organizers who became targets of the xenophobia of the McCarthy Era in the early 1950s. Their work and their lives were predicated on their unwavering belief in fairness and human dignity. They emigrated to Mexico where they were welcomed, not as aliens, but as members of a diverse Mexican tapestry, and where my brothers and I grew up, in a bilingual, multicultural environment. That life experience shaped my values. My parents taught me, through word and deed, to serve others, to make a difference.

I found my calling in oncology, in the nexus between harnessing and translating science, and that most sacred privilege of accompanying patients and their loved ones on their cancer journey. These values subsequently led me to active membership and later, leadership, in ASCO.

The concept of translation became central to my growth from a young child in Mexico to this moment. Because whether you are translating language, or cultural context, or science, translation connects knowledge to meaning.

• Translation: The treatments we use today, and the innovations we will hear about at this meeting, are the product of translation from bench to bedside to society.
• Translation: The p-values and hazard ratios of Kaplan-Meier plots must be translated into what truly matters to patients.
• Translation: It is incumbent on us to translate the content of this meeting across languages, cultures, geographies, resource availability, and practice sites, so that all patients can benefit.

Translation was always important to me, but last year, it became personal……full text and video of the speech:

https://connection.asco.org/do/2026-president-s-address-science-and-practice-translation-improving-cancer-outcomes?cid=DM29735&bid=632635045