Dr. Richard Finn, professor of medicine and director of the Signal Transduction and Therapeutics Research Program and the Clinical Research Unit at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named a 2026 Blue Faery Award for Excellence in Liver Cancer Research honoree and will receive the Lifetime Impact Award for his longstanding leadership in research and his role in advancing treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer.
The award highlights Finn’s role in developing several practice-changing cancer therapies, including leading preclinical and early clinical studies on the use of bevacizumab in the treatment of liver cancer and leading the global phase 3 clinical study that led to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, as well as global approval, of atezolizumab (Tecentriq) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) as a first-line treatment for advanced liver cancer. This immunotherapy combination marked the first major advance in more than a decade to improve survival for patients with HCC.
Liver cancer incidence in the U.S. has tripled over the past four decades, and worldwide, it remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death, with about 800,000 new cases and more than 700,000 deaths each year.
“Liver cancer continues to pose a significant and growing public health challenge,” Finn said. “This recognition reflects the progress the field has made through sustained research efforts and collaboration, as well as the ongoing need to better understand the disease and expand effective treatment options for patients.”
