2026 Deborah Fortier Memorial Scholarship Application

The Deborah Fortier Memorial Scholarship was established for the purpose of enabling a GATRA member to attend the GATRA annual conference when that member might not otherwise have the funds to do so. For 2026, the scholarship theme is:

GATRA:  50 Years of Data Collection

GATRA has been collecting cancer data on patients for 50 years. We started out manually collecting and documenting data by hand. We’ve advanced to computer data collection, and realize that Artificial Intelligence will play a role in how we collect and abstract data in

the future. Based upon your experience in the cancer registry, do you think that AI will play a larger role in data collection, analysis, and patient surveillance. If so, how? If not, why not?

Purpose:  Allow a member with no available funding to attend the GATRA Annual Conference in Brasstown Valley Spa & Resort, Georgia on November 9–11, 2026.

Award: The scholarship will cover registration fee, hotel stay, and other expenses for a maximum of $500.00

Eligibility: *Active GATRA member for at least one year

*Not currently hold an elected Executive Board position or Immediate Past President of GATRA

Process: Applicant completes application (below) and submits with 300–500 word article on this year’s specified topic:

After deidentification, article will be scored by a group of three judges, using the following criteria:

• Adherence to topic
• Compliance with format
• Use of original ideas and/or concepts
• Coherence and completeness
• Additional points may be awarded if applicant has never attended a GATRA Educational Conference

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Applicant Information:

Name (include any credentials):_____________________________________________________________

Institution/Employer:_______________________________________________________________________

Include Preferred Mailing Address Home: _____ Work: _____

Mailing Address: __________________________________________________________________________

City, State, and ZIP code: __________________________________________________________________

Phone Number: _______________________________ Work: _______ Home: _______ Cell: ______

Years of Registry Experience: ___________________

Last GATRA Educational Conference Attended (location/date): _______________________________

Send completed application & article to:   Paulette Zinkann, GATRA Vice President

paulettezinkann@andrewcollege.edu

Application Deadline:  September 30, 2026