Kathleen M. Foley, M.D., the director of the Project on Death in America (PDIA), has been chosen as one of three 2004 McCann Scholars, an honor awarded to medical professionals for their outstanding mentorship in the field of medicine and science. Recipients receive a $150,000 no-strings-attached reward, funded by the Joy McCann Foundation, a family foundation that supports excellence in medical and nursing education and research and patient care.

Foley is a leading authority on pain and its management, especially for those with cancer and advanced medical illness. In addition to her work with PDIA, she serves as a professor of neurology and neuroscience and professor of clinical pharmacology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and also as an attending neurologist at two New York City institutions, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

During her career Foley has chaired three World Health Organization (WHO) Expert Committees that developed the guidelines for cancer pain management in both adults and children. She has advocated for the use of the WHO ladder as a tool for treating acute and chronic pain. On a committee for the Institute of Medicine, Foley took a leadership role in developing the then-radical message that the United States needed to improve compassionate and effective care for patients who are dying. At PDIA, she has overseen a nine-year-old, $45 million program with the goal of improving end of life care through scholarship, research and clinical care; in this capacity and others, she has been heralded for the development of young physicians and health professionals willing to commit their professional lives to advancing palliative care.

Among other honors and achievements, Foley chaired the Commission on Disability and Pain for the Department of Health and Human Services. She has received numerous awards, including the American Cancer Society Distinguished Service Award, the Karnofsky Award and the Special Recognition Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Netter Award from the American Academy of Neurology. She is widely published and serves on the editorial boards of numerous medical and scientific journals.

About the Joy McCann Foundation and the McCann Scholarships

The Joy McCann Foundation is a private family foundation based in Tampa, Florida. It currently supports excellence in medical, nursing and science education, research and patient care; the role of the visual and performing arts in enhancing community life; academic achievement of student athletes; and educational programs that nurture individual achievement.

Awarded annually, the McCann Scholars are chosen from among candidates nominated by a prestigious panel of professionals in medicine, nursing and science; the process is anonymous and confidential. Candidates for the McCann Scholars award must have demonstrated success as an educator and mentor in teaching, research or patient care; be a leader in their academic institution and their professional field; and have been recognized as a role model for excellence and professionalism.

The other two 2004 McCann scholars include:

Mary D. Naylor, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN
Professor of Nursing; Director, RAND/Hartford Center for Interdisciplinary Geriatric Health Care Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jeannette E. South-Paul, M.D.
Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Medical Director, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health System, Division of Community Health Services, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania