2026 GILDA GALA HONOREES
HAROLD H. BENJAMIN INNOVATION AWARD:
Scott A. Irwin, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Patient and Family Support Program
Cedars-Sinai Cancer
Scott A. Irwin, M.D., Ph.D.; FACLP, FAPOS, FAPA is currently the Director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer's Patient and Family Support Program and a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences within Cedars-Sinai Health System. He also serves as a consultant to medical corporations and industry.
His career is focused on improving outcomes for those with cancer or other progressive, potentially life-limiting illnesses, and their families, through leading-edge clinical services, ongoing research, as well as program development, improvement, and implementation.
He is widely published, has been recognized at many levels for his research, teaching, consulting, and clinical endeavors, and has received research funding from the NCI, NIMH, the National Palliative Care Research Center, the Archstone Foundation, and industry.
Dr. Irwin earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and both his MD and PhD (neuroscience) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He successfully completed his psychiatry residency at UC San Diego as chief resident of Outpatient Psychiatric Services, as well as a two-year elective in hospice and palliative care at San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, with a subspecialty certification in consult-liaison psychiatry. He is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the Academy of Consult-Liaison Psychiatry, and the American Psychosocial Oncology Society.
Expertise:
Ø Psychiatry
Ø Consult-Liaison Psychiatry
Ø Psychosomatic Medicine
Ø Psychosocial Oncology
Ø Palliative Care
Ø Supportive Care
Ø Hospice Care
WELLNESS AWARD:
Ashraf Elsayegh, MD, FCCP, FAASM
Medical Director of the Pulmonary Disaster Relief Clinic
Providence Saint John's Health Center
Dr. Elsayegh completed his undergraduate education at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and his medical training at State University of New York, Brooklyn. He completed his subspecialty training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine.
He has practiced at Cedars Sinai Medical Center for over 20 years with multiple leadership roles including Director of the Medical ICU, Clinical Chief of the Pulmonary Division, and most recently in charge of the Pulmonary Section of the Neuromuscular Clinic. In addition, he is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Dr. Elsayegh has had over 20 years of experience developing and managing pulmonary, critical care, and sleep programs throughout California. He has received numerous accolades for his work in these fields over the years. He has held multiple directorship roles at a variety of centers including Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Beverly Hills, Ca), California Rehabilitation Institute (Beverly Hills, Ca), and Saint John's Health Center (Santa Monica, Ca).
Of his many areas of expertise, he is intimately involved in the various pulmonary complications of neuromuscular patients.
He is involved in multiple research projects involving respiratory care in this subset of patients. He is currently one of the foremost thought leaders in pulmonary care of neuromuscular patients. In addition, he has a deep interest and expertise in respiratory muscle function including diaphragm dysfunction. Again involved in multiple research projects and has had multiple publications in respiratory muscle function.
Currently at Providence Saint John's Health Center, Dr. Elsayegh is instrumental in developing a comprehensive pulmonary program and a new pulmonary interventional bronchoscopy program. In addition, along with the help of the hospital administration, he has developed a Pulmonary Disaster Relief Clinic for victim's of the recent Los Angeles wildfires. As the director of the clinic, he treats patients and first responders from both those fires, as well as, any other fires or major disasters in Southern California. He is also heading research projects involving those Los Angeles wildfires.
Dr. Elsayegh has made numerous presentations at professional symposia both nationally and internationally. He has written multiple articles for peer-reviewed publications. He has authored chapters for medical textbooks and has been used as a medical consultant in other publications and projects. His many publications have ranged from journal articles in the general field of pulmonary and critical care, including on COVID infections and COVID pneumonia, as well as respiratory function in neuromuscular patients. He is a fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Association of Sleep Medicine.
Over the years, Dr. Elsayegh has been actively involved in Medicine and Pulmonary Grand Rounds, teaching of medical students, residents, and fellows. He has also been very active in education of nursing staff, training of nurse practitioner students, and physician assistant students.
Dr. Elsayegh is an active Board member on medical societies. He has played a pivotal role in chairing medical meetings both nationally and internationally. Finally, he has held multiple advisory roles for medical therapeutic device companies throughout his career. He has helped advise on the betterment of several devices, as well as, helped launch multiple medical devices to market.
LEGACY AWARD:
Battalion Chief Aaron Guggenheim
Commander
LAFD Wellness Section
Battalion Chief Aaron Guggenheim is a 19-year veteran of the Los Angeles City Fire Department. As the Commander of the LAFD Wellness Section, Aaron focuses on programming and targeted interventions to support the physical and behavioral well-being of over 3,400 sworn firefighters. He leverages his public health education and fire service experience to address complex challenges at the intersection of public health and emergency services. Aaron is a native Angeleno and feels privileged to serve both the citizens and firefighters of Los Angeles.
GILDA AWARD:
Annabelle Gurwitch
Actress, activist & New York Times bestselling author
Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist and New York Times bestselling author of six memoirs and a two-time Thurber Prize finalist. "The End of My Life is Killing Me, the unexpected joys of a cancer slacker," was published in March by Zibby Books and was an instant national bestseller and described by New York Times bestselling author Steven Rowley as "resilient, hilarious, unfiltered and honest, just like the author herself. Great writing reminds us that we are not alone, that someone else has been there and understands. In that moment of connection, it feels like we have a friend. How lucky we are to have such a friend in Annabelle Gurwitch -- adversity's greatest foe is her singular wit. "
Annabelle stepped into patient advocacy after her diagnosis of stage 4 NSCLC lung cancer in 2020 with the goal of encouraging a return to regular health screenings with an appearance on GMA and a widely read op-ed in New York Times. Since then, she has been chronicling strategies for resilience, including community building like the essential work being done every day by Cancer Support Community Los Angeles and inequities in care in essays published by The York Times, Washington Post, AARP, The Hollywood Reporter, Boston Globe amongst other publications.
In 2024, She published on predatory insurance practices for the Washington Post and became a national spokesperson for the All Co-Pays Count Coalition, a consortium of 80 NGOS including Susan B. Komen, HIV+HEP and the Arthritis Foundations, dedicated to easing the burden on patients of prescription medication costs. She is the lead plaintiff in a related class action suit: Gurwitch V AccredoHealth, ExpressScripts, SaveOnSp. She does one-to -one mentoring, collaborates with oncologists and researchers on clinical trials, grant proposals, and has served on the faculties at scientific conferences and patient and caregivers' summits around the globe. In 2023, she was awarded the Patient Advocate Award by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and is currently serving a two-year term on the Communication Committee of the IASLC.
Annabelle was the longtime co-host of Dinner & a Movie on TBS, a regular NPR commentator, whose acting credits include: Seinfeld, Better Things, Dexter, and movies Melvin Goes to Dinner and Ambulance. She performs with The Moth Mainstage, she writes for Shouts and Murmurs in The New Yorker, and had written and developed adaptations of her books for HBO, F/X, Hallmark, and NBC. She is currently on a Comedy and Cancer Center Unexpected Joys Book Tour which has included appearances with Bob Odenkirk, Roz Chast, and Laurie Anderson, talks at Yale Cancer Center and will culminate in December with keynoting the MultiOmics Spatial Biology Conference in Brisbane.
Annabelle will be introduced by friend of Gilda Radner and original castmate of Saturday Night Live, actress Laraine Newman.
HOSTED BY:
Jason Kravits
Actor
Jason has been fortunate to appear on stages and screens, large and small, for over 30 years. He is probably best known for his long-running role as Richard Bay on ABC's The Practice, though he has amassed over 100 other film and TV credits including memorable roles on Only Murders in the Building, Curb Your Enthusiasm, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Gilmore Girls, The Kominsky Method, Young Sheldon, Halston, Grey's Anatomy, The Undoing, and Disney's Snow White (as the voice of "Sneezy.") His Broadway credits include Relatively Speaking, Sly Fox, and The Drowsy Chaperone. Off Broadway, Jason appeared alongside John Turturro in the stage adaptation of the Philip Roth novel Sabbath's Theater, and as "Vice Principal Panch" in the recent award-winning production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
CHAMPIONS OF CARE:
Nominated by Cancer Support Community Los Angeles participants
Rita Aron, LMFT
Jeff Burkeen, MD
Crystal Fancher, MD, FACS
Lauren Guidry, PNP
Gottfried E. Konecny, MD
Shiori K. Lange, LCSW, OWS-C
Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD
Omid S. Shaye, MD