Margaret Foti

Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), is the chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the first and largest cancer research organization in the world. Under her visionary leadership, membership has grown from about 3,000 members to over 50,000 in 129 countries and territories, and the AACR’s portfolio of peer-reviewed scientific journals has increased from one to ten.

After beginning her AACR career in an editorial position with the journal Cancer Research, Foti progressed through several key editorial and management roles in scientific publishing to become chief executive officer. She launched nine additional major peer-reviewed scientific journals: Blood Cancer Discovery; Cancer Discovery; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Cancer Immunology Research; Cancer Prevention Research; Cancer Research Communications; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Research; and Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. She also helped launch Cancer Today, a magazine for cancer patients, survivors, and their families and caregivers, as well as Leading Discoveries, a publication that highlights AACR members, programs, and philanthropic initiatives.

A graduate of Temple University, Foti is one of the most influential voices in advancing the field of cancer research, both in the United States and abroad. She was elected president of three professional societies in scholarly publishing and in cancer research. She has also served as a board member, committee member, and consultant to a number of other nonprofit organizations. There is a legacy of young women, minority scientists, and investigators-in-training whose careers have been advanced as a result of her mentorship and support.

Under Foti’s leadership, the AACR has served with distinction as the Scientific Partner of Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C). In this capacity, Foti and the AACR staff have brought significant expertise to their work with SU2C, especially in the scientific peer review of projects, scientific project management, grants administration, communications, and science policy.

Foti’s leadership was instrumental in the production of two landmark annual reports that highlight the critical need for increased annual federal funding for the government entities that fuel progress against cancer: the AACR Cancer Progress Report, which was first published in 2011 and celebrates the advances in basic, translational, and clinical cancer research which have had a major impact on therapeutic development and improved patient care; and the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report, which was launched in 2020 with the overarching goal of increasing public understanding of cancer health disparities and of the vital importance of cancer health disparities research to saving lives.