On Nov. 5, 2004, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was presented with a FREDDIE Award for its redesigned Web site, www.cancer.gov. NCI Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., and Acting Director of Communications Nelvis Castro accepted the award on behalf of NCI at the 30th Annual FREDDIE Awards, held in New York, N.Y.

The FREDDIEs, also known as the International Health and Medical Media Awards, were established 30 years ago to bring together the fields of medical science, education and the arts for an international competition devoted to educational health and medical productions. The awards have come to be known as "the Oscars of the health and medical community."

The awards ceremony was hosted by Mark Morocco, M.D., medical supervisor and consultant to "ER" and other medicine-related television shows. Special honors were given to Marlo Thomas, national outreach director for Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital; Rene Rodriguez, M.D., founder and president of the Interamerican College of Physicians & Surgeons; Timothy Johnson, M.D., medical editor for "Good Morning America" and ABC News; and the late Christopher Reeve.

In addition to NCI's www.cancer.gov, awardees this year included the World Health Organization's "The Mystery Disease," a documentary that examines a devastating skin disease in numerous African countries, and HBO's "Something the Lord Made," the Emmy Award-winning film based on the true story of a prominent surgeon and an African-American carpenter who together pioneered the field of cardiac surgery.

For more information about the FREDDIE Awards and this year's awardees, go to www.thefreddies.com.

For information about cancer and to view NCI's award-winning site, go to www.cancer.gov.

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