Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., CEO and founder of NantHealth, has been awarded the Intelligent Health Association (IHA) Special Recognition Award. The award recognizes his leadership in the healthcare technology community and his commitment to transforming cancer care through personalized medicine and combination immunotherapy.

The IHA annual awards identify and recognize the most compelling healthcare projects incorporating wireless technologies resulting in sustainable impact on the patient experience, safety and healthcare facility operations.

Criteria for the award is largely based on significant lifetime achievements in healthcare. As a surgeon, scientist and philanthropist, Dr. Soon-Shiong has dedicated his medical and scientific career to combating life-threatening diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Today, he is leading a collaboration of biotechnology and healthcare leaders on an unprecedented mission to treat cancer with next-generation novel immunotherapies. Earlier in his career, he performed the world's first encapsulated human islet cell transplant in several type I diabetic patients and continued his quest to develop groundbreaking treatments for cancer. Dr. Soon-Shiong invented Abraxane, the nation's first biologically active chemotherapy. The albumin-bound nanoparticle of paclitaxel is designed to enter the tumors micro-environment, which is approved today for the treatment of breast, lung and pancreatic cancer.