Harold P. Freeman is president and CEO of the Patient Navigation Institute, which addresses disparities in access to cancer treatment for poor, uninsured and medically underserved patients, helping them navigate a complex health system and overcome barriers to timely cancer diagnosis and treatment. For twenty-five years, Dr. Freeman was Director of Surgery at Harlem Hospital in New York, where he also held the position of Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgery. In 1990 he started the first patient navigation program in the US at Harlem Hospital, and since that time has become known around the world as the "father of patient navigation."

The success of Dr. Freeman's Patient Navigation Program has led hundreds of other health care organizations to develop patient navigation programs. Based on this model, the Patient Navigator and Chronic Disease Prevention Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush in June 2005.

Dr. Freeman is Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention, and former Senior Advisor to the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). A leading authority on the interrelationships between race, poverty, and cancer, Dr. Freeman was Founding Director of the NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, and for five years served as Associate Director of the NCI.

Dr. Freeman served as national president of the American Cancer Society from 1988-1989, and was the chief architect of the American Cancer Society's initiative on Cancer in the Poor. The Society established the annual "Harold P. Freeman Award" in 1990, which recognizes individuals and organizations making outstanding contributions to the fight against cancer in the poor.

Dr. Freeman is past chairman of the President's Cancer Panel, to which he was appointed for four consecutive three-year terms, first by President Bush in 1991 and subsequently by President Clinton in 1994, 1997 and 2000.

A graduate of Catholic University of America, Dr. Freeman also has been awarded Honorary Doctor of Science degrees from Albany Medical College, Niagara University, Adelphi University, and Catholic University of America. He was also awarded the University of California at San Francisco Medal. Dr. Freeman is a Lasker Laureate, having received the Lasker Award for Public Service.

Other selected awards include: the American Cancer Society's Medal of Honor; the Centers for Disease Control Foundation's Champion of Prevention Award; the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Special Recognition Award; the Avon Breast Cancer National Leadership Award; the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer National Foundation's Betty Ford Award; Dorothy Height Life Time Achievement Award; the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) "Public Service Award" at the Centennial Meeting of the AACR in 2007; and the American Psychosocial Society Distinguished Public Service Award.