Joseph W. Cullen

Joseph W. Cullen (November 28, 1936 – November 24, 1990) was an American cancer prevention and rehabilitation researcher and briefly director of the AMC Cancer Research Center (1989-1990).

Career After graduating with his PhD in 1968, he worked at the Pavlovian Research Laboratory at the VA Hospital in Perry Point, Maryland, first as a research associate, and later as a research psychologist. He departed in 1976 and joined the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as the first director of the Division of Cancer Control. They made cancer prevention a research topic of its own right. Cullen was the creator and coordinator of the comprehensive Smoking, Tobacco and Cancer Program (STCP) at the NCI in 1982 to test a variety of cancer interventions.

In May 1989, he was appointed director of the AMC Cancer Center in Denver, Colorado and was a clinical professor at the nearby University of Colorado School of Medicine, roles he held until his death in November 1990. He also designed the Preventative Medicine curricula at UCLA. He was also awarded the American Cancer Society's (ACS) Order of the Golden Sword for his work on STCP campaigns.

Personal life On November 21, 1990, while on vacation in San Francisco, doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor. At the times of his death, he lived in Englewood, Colorado with his wife Katherine.

Legacy In 1992, the first Joseph W. Cullen Memorial Award was awarded by ASPO to Ellen Gritz, one of Cullen's mentees from UCLA. This award recognizes "distinguished achievement in continued national tobacco control efforts through research; the development of prevention and cessation programs with a wide-reaching public health impact; or public policy and advocacy initiatives."

In 1993, the Joseph W. Cullen Award was given to Emily Untermeyer from the Texas Cancer Council by the Association of State and Territorial Chronic Disease Program Directors and the CDC for her contributions to chronic disease prevention and control.

In 1994, the first Joseph W. Cullen Prevention/Early Detection Award was given to former Surgeon General Jesse Leonard Steinfeld by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). This award recognizes distinguished scientists working towards prevention research of thoracic malignancies. Nise Yamaguchi and Fadlo R. Khuri received the prize in 2018 and Denise Aberle did so in 2019.

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors has an annual Joseph W. Cullen Excellence Award that recognizes "an individual outside the traditional public health field who has made outstanding contributions in the field of chronic disease." Past awardees include Courtney Atkins (2012) of Whole Child Leon for her work in establishing pre-K wellness and nutrition initiatives to decrease childhood obesity; and Kathleen Nolan (2014) of the National Association of Medicaid Directors for her work on the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid sustainability.