Raising colorectal cancer screening rates is more critical than ever as incidence grows among people younger than 55 years of age. The findings in the American Cancer Society’s recent Cancer Facts & Figures, 2025 report show colorectal cancer death rates have been increasing by about 1% each year since the mid-2000s for people under 55 years old.
The American Cancer Society National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (ACS NCCRT), founded in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, honored five organizations for their extraordinary work to increase colorectal cancer screening rates across the U.S. with the 2025 ACS NCCRT National Achievement Award. Like and share the news on X.
“The call to increase colorectal cancer screening rates has never been more urgent than today and we applaud our honorees who have stepped up to help save lives,” said Steven Itzkowitz, MD, FACP, FACG, AGAF, gastroenterologist with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and ACS NCCRT chair. “We are proud of the work our honorees have done and will continue to do in the fight to reduce the incidence of and mortality from colorectal cancer and make progress toward our shared goal to increase screening rates to 80% or higher.”
The ACS NCCRT National Achievement Award honors individuals and organizations who dedicate their time, talent, and expertise to advancing initiatives that support the shared goal to increase colorectal screening rates in communities across the nation. The awards include one grand prize winner and four other honorees, each of whom receives a monetary award to support continued efforts to increase colorectal cancer screenings.
This year's recipients are: Erie Family Health Centers, Chicago, IL; Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education, GA; Marshall, El Dorado County, CA; Peoples Health, LA; Project 80% at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Central, East, Southeast, and West TX and the Rio Grande Valley. Read more about their work below.
Grand Prize Winner: Erie Family Health Centers
Category: Federally Qualified Health Center
Erie Family Health Centers (Erie) is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves more than 95,000 patients at 13 locations across Chicago, IL and its northern suburbs. Eighty-eight percent of Erie patients are either Medicaid recipients or uninsured, and 45% speak languages other than English. Erie aimed to increase access to and rates of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening as well as ensure pathways to follow-up colonoscopies for patients aged 45 and above, specifically focusing on never-screened individuals. At the start of the project in 2023, Erie’s overall screening rate was 49%. Just one year later, their rate jumped to 59%. 16,603 patients were screened for CRC during the project period. Erie’s tactics are multi-pronged and thoughtfully coordinated, combining tailored community and provider education, marketing campaigns, direct patient outreach, appointment and financial navigation support, transportation assistance, and strong partnerships with local health systems to help remove barriers to screening and follow-up care. Erie is proud to have expanded CRC care to patients ages 45-49 earlier than required and is committed to continuing this work to improve access to CRC screening and care for medically underserved communities in the Chicago area.
ACS Regional Involvement: Gargee Patel, associate director, community partnerships, works with Erie Family Health Centers in Chicago, IL.
Honoree: Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education
Category: Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP)
Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE), a unique statewide organization formed in 2003, became a recipient of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) grant in 2020, and formed a collaborative partnership with Augusta University and Horizons, South Georgia’s Cancer Coalition. Together they built a program that includes 20 clinics in 18 counties from three separate Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to offer free CRC screening to eligible patients in a mostly rural and largely underserved area, employing five evidence-based interventions to increase screening. Of note, the partnership launched Augusta University’s TeleECHO CRC Screening project that has held 22 sessions since 2022, educating providers about how to increase CRC screening rates. Between 2021 and 2023, CRC screening rates in southeast Georgia rose from 34% to 45%, increasing 11 percentage points in just two years. Furthermore, in southwest Georgia, participating clinics screened more than 1,500 more patients for CRC in 2023 (6,309 screened versus 4,748 in 2022). They are most proud of building diverse and collaborative partnerships to best serve rural Georgians, including with FQHCs, health systems, an academic institution, and a regional cancer coalition.
ACS Regional Involvement: Kylie Jupp, associate director, state partnerships, has worked closely with Georgia CORE over the past few years, including nominating them for this honor.
Honoree: Marshall
Category: Health System
Marshall is a health system located in and serving El Dorado County, CA, with a particular focus on engaging their rural community, the most vulnerable, and getting those aged 45-49 screened for colorectal cancer (CRC). Over the past year, their overall CRC screening rate rose three percentage points to 82%, while their efforts to impact younger populations (aged 45-49) have increased that age group’s screening rate to 61%, up by 8 percentage points in one year. Supported by a grant from Exact Sciences, Marshall used a multifaceted and tailored approach to reach people for CRC screening, including collaborative community outreach events, small media (including in multiple languages), evidence-based provider and staff education, clinical champion development, standing orders for stool-based tests, enhanced outreach to vulnerable patients, and minimizing financial barriers to screening and care by offering transportation and cost-reduction programs. They are most proud of the close working partnership between their primary care providers, cancer center leaders, and their population health departments, who all came together around the common goal to serve their community and increase CRC screening rates.
ACS Regional Involvement: Jennifer Giese, associate director, cancer center partnerships, works with Marshall in Northern CA.
Honoree: Peoples Health
Category: Health Plan
Peoples Health is a Medicare Advantage plan serving over 140,000 members in Louisiana. Through participation in the Louisiana Payors Council (LPC) and as a founding member of the non-profit organization Taking Aim at Cancer in Louisiana (TACL), Peoples Health has prioritized colorectal cancer (CRC) screening within its population and across the state. Chief Medical Officer at Peoples Health, Dr. Brent Wallis, is the Chair of the LPC, which has advocated for unified CRC screening promotion and messaging across all payors, resulting in collaborative one-pagers and a state-wide CRC Screening Registry for Medicaid recipients; and for engaged payors to enact policy change to eliminate copays for a follow-up colonoscopy, even before doing so was required by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Peoples Health increased CRC screening rates of its plan members from 50% in 2021 to 54% in 2023, representing almost 28,000 screened members, with many parishes reporting rates over 60%. The organization eliminated screening disparities between Black and White members of its population, resulting in 56% and 53% screening parity, respectively. Peoples Health is proud of taking an “all hands” approach to increasing CRC screening among its health plan members, and in supporting the importance of CRC screening across Louisiana through its participation with TACL.
ACS Regional Involvement: Shea Austin, associate director, state partnerships, has worked closely with Dr. Brent Wallis of Peoples Health, as well as the Louisiana Payors Council, over the past few years.
Honoree: Project 80% at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Category: Screening Program
Project 80% is a screening program designed to reduce incidence and mortality related to colorectal cancer (CRC) in Central, East, Southeast and West Texas and the Rio Grande Valley, specifically focused in rural and urban health professional shortage areas. Based out of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Project 80% works in partnership with 176 community clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and is supported by funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). To date, Project 80% has resulted almost 135,000 fecal immunochemical tests (FITs), culminating in 7,750 colonoscopies completed, which translates to a 75% follow-up rate after an abnormal FIT or direct referral for increased risk participants. The program uses multiple tactics including providing free screening for those without insurance, patient reminders, individual and group education, provider reminders, provider feedback and assessment, as well as reduction of structural barriers through patient navigation provided by Community Health Workers (CHWs) fluent in English and Spanish. They are most proud of how their providers, clinical teams, endoscopy partners, and CHWs have come together to navigate the most vulnerable to CRC screening and the sheer reach they’ve had in their communities over time.
ACS Regional Involvement: Hannah Hogan, associate director, cancer center partnerships, has worked with MD Anderson Cancer Center during the past few years in Southeast Texas.
