Prof. Witold Rzyman honoured with the Joseph W. Cullen Prevention and Early Detection Award for Lung Cancer

9.09.2025

Prof. Witold Rzyman, Head of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Medical University of Gdańsk, has received the Joseph W. Cullen Prevention and Early Detection Award for his contributions to lung cancer prevention and early detection. The international distinction was presented during the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Barcelona.

The award was conferred by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), which brings together over 10,000 specialists from around one hundred countries, in recognition of Prof. Rzyman’s lifetime achievements in the prevention of thoracic malignancies.

My work on lung cancer screening began in 2007, when we were preparing the first pilot program of this kind in Gdańsk. Then came further initiatives – one after another. And suddenly, ten years passed very quickly. During that time, in Gdańsk, where I work, we succeeded in building a truly multidisciplinary team – clinicians, biologists, mathematicians, and computer scientists, said Prof. Witold Rzyman upon receiving the award.

Prof. Rzyman’s research interests include multimodal treatment and minimally invasive surgical procedures in thoracic malignancies. His special field of expertise is lung cancer screening. He is co-leader of the Gdańsk Lung Cancer Study Group responsible for biobanking. He has earned international recognition for his contribution to the implementation of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) lung cancer screening in Poland and worldwide. Professor Rzyman is the author of the Polish consensus statement on lung cancer screening and the initiator and member of the steering committee of the Polish pilot lung cancer screening program carried out between 2020–2023. He is also co-author of the Polish population-based lung cancer screening program and actively participates in numerous international initiatives in this field, including the Lung Cancer Policy Network. Since 2025, he has served as National Consultant in Thoracic Surgery in Poland.

On behalf of myself and the entire academic community, I extend my congratulations to Professor Rzyman on this international distinction. It is a recognition of his dedicated work in the prevention of thoracic malignancies, and for our University, it is a great honor to have such individuals, physicians, and scientists among us, said Prof. Michał Markuszewski, Rector of the Medical University of Gdańsk.

Prof. Rzyman is the author of more than 122 scientific publications and was appointed lead author of the Handbook of Lung Cancer Screening prepared by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). He serves as Associate Editor of International Lung Cancer News and is a member of the IASLC Early Detection and Screening Committee, as well as the Ad Hoc

Screening Committee of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons. He is also the principal investigator of four grants under which a total of 18,000 individuals were screened.