Annual Awards

Dr. Scholz received the Chodak Award for decades of patient education and advocacy that helped men with low-risk prostate cancer understand that immediate treatment is not always the only path.

A co-founder of PCRI and co-author of The Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers, Dr. Scholz helped bring Active Surveillance and conservative management into plain language for patients at a time when many men were still being rushed toward surgery or radiation. His books, videos, interviews, and PCRI education work gave patients a way to ask better questions, seek second opinions, and think carefully about quality of life before committing to aggressive treatment. Howard Wolinsky has credited Dr. Scholz’s writing with giving him the confidence to reject an immediate radical prostatectomy recommendation and choose Active Surveillance instead. Dr. Scholz’s work carries forward Dr. Gerald Chodak’s legacy of using science, courage, and patient-first thinking to keep men from unnecessary harm.

“Your writing opened my eyes and empowered my choice for Active Surveillance. I’m not alone.”

— Howard Wolinsky, on Dr. Mark Scholz’s impact

Dr. Carroll received the Chodak Award for helping turn Active Surveillance from a difficult, unconventional idea into a credible, data-driven approach that doctors and patients could trust.

At UCSF, Dr. Carroll helped build the protocols, risk assessment tools, and long-term clinical evidence that Active Surveillance needed to gain wider acceptance. Early in his career, when even low-grade prostate cancer often led straight to surgery or radiation, he became increasingly uncomfortable with automatically treating men who might never need aggressive treatment. His early writing on overdiagnosis and overtreatment gave voice to those concerns, and his later UCSF research helped make careful monitoring a more responsible and reassuring option for selected men. Dr. Laurence Klotz has described Dr. Carroll’s work as central to the acceptance of Active Surveillance because he brought the data the field needed. Dr. Carroll also emphasized that surveillance is not passive waiting; it is a different, more thoughtful way to follow prostate cancer carefully and intervene when needed.

“The only way to win this battle was with data, and Peter was the master of data.”

— Dr. Laurence Klotz, on Dr. Peter Carroll

Dr. Albertsen received the Chodak Award for research that helped map the natural history of low-risk prostate cancer and clarify which cancers could often be watched safely over time.

Trained as a surgeon, Dr. Albertsen began asking harder questions after seeing that the usual treatment assumptions did not always match how prostate cancer behaved over many years. He went on to study screening, long-term outcomes, and the difference between low-grade disease and cancers more likely to cause harm. Using population-based data, including Connecticut’s long-running tumor registry, his work helped show that many men with low-risk prostate cancer could avoid immediate treatment without giving up good long-term outcomes. That was not an easy message in a field strongly oriented toward surgery and radiation. Dr. Albertsen faced criticism for challenging the norms of prostate cancer care, but his persistence helped build the clinical foundation for Active Surveillance and influenced the next generation of researchers.

“A declaration of independence for Active Surveillance.”

— Dr. Paul Schellhammer, on Dr. Albertsen’s research

Dr. Klotz received ASPI’s first Chodak Award for helping define, name, and develop Active Surveillance as a practical care strategy for men with low-risk and favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer.

A surgeon and longtime Sunnybrook and University of Toronto leader, Dr. Klotz helped turn what had once been a controversial idea into a structured clinical path. Often called the “father of active surveillance,” he helped show that, for the right patients, choosing careful monitoring could be the more patient-centered choice. His work carried forward Dr. Chodak’s courage and patient-first science: he gave Active Surveillance a name, built the clinical evidence around it, and helped make it an accepted option for men who could avoid immediate surgery or radiation.

“I’ve been fortunate to get lots of honors, but not one like this. It represents patient appreciation.”

— Dr. Laurence Klotz

Dr. Morgan received this award for standing up for Active Surveillance during the 2021 NCCN “Preferred Gate” controversy, when the word “preferred” was removed from the guideline recommendation for low-risk prostate cancer.

As a member of the NCCN prostate panel, Dr. Morgan was the one doctor in the meeting who opposed the change. His position mattered because clinicians rely heavily on NCCN guidance, and patients feel the consequences when guidelines shift. The award recognizes both the substance of his advocacy and the courage it can take to speak up in a room where the consensus is moving the other way. His example reflects a core ASPI value: when patient care is at stake, silence can carry its own risks.

“This is what’s meaningful, and this is why we do what we do: to improve patient care.”

— Dr. Todd Morgan

Dr. Cooperberg received this award for helping lead the public response that pushed back against the NCCN downgrade of Active Surveillance and helped restore surveillance as the preferred approach for men with low-risk prostate cancer.

After Dr. Daniel Lin noticed the quiet guideline change, Dr. Cooperberg helped spark the social-media campaign later known as the “Twitterstorm” around Preferred Gate. The campaign brought together urologists and patient advocates from ASPI, AnCan, and ZERO, and within three months NCCN reversed course. ASPI recognized him not because one social-media campaign changed everything on its own, but because he helped rally experts and patients around evidence when a guideline change threatened to send the wrong message. The award also honors his broader work helping patients receive more individualized, evidence-based care.

“You are why we do what we do.”

— Dr. Matthew Cooperberg, to ASPI patients

The ProtecT team received this award for producing long-term trial data that gave patients and doctors more confidence in monitoring selected men instead of moving straight to treatment.

Represented by Professors Freddie Hamdy and Jenny Donovan, the team’s work provided some of the most important evidence that carefully selected men can avoid or delay treatment without losing the chance for good long-term outcomes. ProtecT helped patients and clinicians compare monitoring, surgery, and radiotherapy over long follow-up, with quality of life as part of the story rather than an afterthought. The award also honors the patients who made the trial possible, including men in every study arm whose participation helped change the lives of others.

“The ProtecT trial is one of the most, if not the most, influential trials that’s been done in the history of urology.”

— Dr. Jim Montie, on the ProtecT Trial Team

MUSIC received this award for showing how a large, real-world collaboration can make Active Surveillance more common and more consistent across urology practices.

Its statewide work helped move surveillance from theory into everyday care, giving more men access to careful monitoring close to home and helping reduce unnecessary treatment. MUSIC showed that high rates of Active Surveillance are possible not only at major academic centers, but across community practices when physicians share data, learn from one another, and include patients in the work. Its model also shows how patient advocates can help keep quality-improvement efforts grounded in what matters to patients.

“Patients are at the foundation of our purpose.”

— MUSIC

Howard Wolinsky received this award for patient advocacy that has helped men on Active Surveillance feel better informed, less alone, and more confident asking whether immediate treatment is truly necessary.

A co-founder of ASPI and editor of The Active Surveillor, Howard also helped establish the weekly virtual support group for Active Surveillance patients on the AnCan platform. His own 2010 diagnosis, and the pressure he felt to pursue immediate surgery before seeking a second opinion, helped motivate his work so other men would not face the same decision alone. Clinicians, researchers, patients, and friends have described how his journalism, questions, introductions, and support have helped patients and doctors alike. The common thread is clear: Howard helps men become better informed without pushing them toward a single answer.

“You’re not just helping other patients, you are helping physicians to become better doctors.”

— Prof. Freddie Hamdy, on Howard Wolinsky

E. Michael Scott received this award for early, sustained patient advocacy that challenged the idea that low-risk prostate cancer always needs immediate treatment.

His work supported a more measured approach and helped make Active Surveillance easier for men and families to understand, trust, and accept. Although he was not a physician and did not have prostate cancer himself, Scott became a deeply knowledgeable guide for patients and clinicians at a time when few resources existed for men trying to understand conservative management. His patient-education work helped build the foundation that later made organizations like ASPI possible.

“If it wasn’t for Mike Scott, we would not be gathered here today.”

— Howard Wolinsky, on E. Michael Scott

Thráinn Thorvaldsson received the inaugural award named in his honor for pioneering peer support and patient education for men on Active Surveillance in Iceland and internationally through ASPI.

His work elevated the patient voice and showed how shared lived experience can help men feel clearer, steadier, and less alone while choosing careful monitoring. After his own diagnosis, Thráinn advocated for himself, built support for men in Iceland, and then helped bring together the people who would form ASPI. He is remembered as a steady, practical organizer whose support for men began in Iceland and helped grow into an international patient community.

“He’s a visionary, but he’s a pragmatist. He has a clear sense of what can be done.”

— Howard Wolinsky, on Thráinn Thorvaldsson

This PCRI recognition highlighted Howard Wolinsky’s broader contribution to prostate cancer advocacy through writing, education, and patient support.

It reflected his work helping men understand their options, question overtreatment, and navigate Active Surveillance with more confidence and community. This recognition sits separately from Howard’s ASPI Patient Advocacy Award, but it points to the same larger contribution: using journalism, expert relationships, and patient experience to make prostate cancer decisions clearer for others.

“It’s got to be your decision.”

— Howard Wolinsky