Richard and Annette Bloch founded the Cancer Hotline in 1980 to educate newly diagnosed cancer patients, and their friends and families about available treatment resources. Later, they founded the R. A. Bloch Cancer Management Center and the R. A. Bloch Cancer Support Center at the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Ronald Reagan appointed him to a six-year term with the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1982. He was a member of the President's Circle of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine. He also received the 1994 American Society of Clinical Oncology's Public Service Award and the 1995 Layman's Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology.