BTN Founder and CEO Receives American Brain Tumor Association Award

BTN Founder and President, Rick Sontag (Left), ABTA President and CEO, Ralph DeVitto (Center), ABTA Chief Mission Officer, Nicole Willmarth, PhD (Right)

Brain Tumor Network (BTN) Founder and President Rick Sontag is the recipient of this year’s “Joel A. Gingras Jr. Award” from the American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA).

The Joel A. Gingras Jr. Award is ABTA’s highest honor, awarded to individuals, organizations, or groups that have made significant contributions to the organization’s mission to advance the understanding and treatment of brain tumors with the goals of improving, extending, and, ultimately, saving the lives of those impacted by a brain tumor diagnosis.

Rick’s contributions within the brain tumor community span the course of over two decades. Following his wife Susan’s miraculous recovery from a brain tumor, Rick dedicated his life to progressing brain tumor research and ensuring that families have the support needed following a brain tumor diagnosis. In 2002, Rick began the Sontag Foundation, which has awarded over $40 million in research grants. In 2014, Brain Tumor Network was established, and has provided personalized brain tumor navigation to over 1,500 patients, families, and caregivers.