Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation In Patient-Centered Cancer Care

Bradley J. Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH, is a nationally recognized researcher, educator, and oncology social worker who has spent more than 25 years advancing the field of cancer survivorship. His research has shaped how the field understands quality of life, health disparities, supportive care, and the distinct needs of adolescents and young adults with cancer. He is a professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and one of the founding figures of adolescent and young adult (AYA) psychosocial oncology as a field of research.

Brad’s connection to Cancer Nation runs deep. Diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 1985 at age 25, he turned to the newly-founded NCCS (now Cancer Nation) for support and gave back almost immediately. In 1988, he and his then-fiancée Joanne Kelleher rode bicycles 11,000 miles around the perimeter of the United States over the course of a year, meeting with survivors, oncologists, nurses, social workers, and hospital administrators to advocate for medical and psychosocial support for people during and after cancer treatment, a novel concept at the time.

From left to right: Brad Zebrack and Joann Kelleher talk with Dr. Richard Karl at Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa Florida, 1988.

The campaign raised more than $10,000 for NCCS and carried its message to communities across the country in the pre-internet era. Brad went on to serve on the NCCS Board of Directors from 1993 to 1998 and consulted on NCCS’s 1996 report, Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care: Access, Advocacy, Action and Accountability.

Brad earned his PhD in social work from the University of Michigan in 1999. During a postdoctoral fellowship with Patricia Ganz at UCLA, he developed quality-of-life questionnaires designed specifically for long-term cancer survivors and, later, for young adult survivors, tools now used widely across the field.

He has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications and 31 book chapters, mentored roughly 50 trainees, and holds fellowships with the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, the Society for Social Work and Research, and the Association of Oncology Social Work. His recent honors include the Rogel Scholar in Cancer Health Impact award from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center (2025 to 2028), the Ruth McCorkle Excellence in Research Mentorship Award (2022), and the Archie Bleyer AYA Trailblazer Award (2025).