Cancer Education Work Recognized

Thirty-five years ago, Helene G. Brown remembers smoking a cigarette while working on a report linking tobacco with lung cancer.

Since then, the 68-year-old director of community applications of research for the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control has quit smoking and worked to educate the public about cancer, its prevention and control.

For her efforts, Brown was presented with the 1997 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor for public health at the national society’s annual awards dinner Sunday, held in Los Angeles.

“[Brown] has been and continues to be instrumental in promoting cancer awareness to the public,” said Dr. Harmon Eyre, chief medical officer of the society and chairman of the award committee.

Brown, a resident of Sherman Oaks, was described by Dr. Peter Greenwald, director of the division of cancer prevention at the National Cancer Institute, as a visionary in the field of cancer prevention and control.

“She knows how to link leaders in society and politics with the best of academia and motivate them to develop community programs that can lower cancer rates and improve the quality of life for cancer patients,” Greenwald said.

A recipient of numerous awards for her work in cancer prevention and control, Brown said she is thrilled to receive the award and lauded the efforts of the society.