The National Academy of Sciences has announced the election of 84 new members and 21 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Members elected from the oncology community include:
* Yuan Chang, MD, Professor of Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh.
* Ronald A. DePinho, MD, President of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
* Xinnian Dong, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Arts and Sciences Endowed Professor of Biology at Duke University.
* Beatrice H. Hahn, MD, Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
* Gregory J. Hannon, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
* Liqun Luo, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University.
* Patrick S. Moore, MD, MPH, Director of the Cancer Virology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh.
* Nikola P. Pavletich, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor in the Immunology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
* Alexander Rudensky, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and Professor in the Immunology Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
* Eckard A.F. Wimmer, PhD, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Stony Brook University.
Also newly elected were two foreign associates from the oncology community:
* Mariano Barbacid, PhD, Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Center.
* Louise Chow, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Senior Scientist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, China
After leading the pediatric cancer and blood diseases program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles Center and the Department of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California for 36 years, Stuart E. Siegel, MD, is leaving his role as Director. He developed the first pediatric protective environment in 1971 for children undergoing intensive chemotherapy and has pioneered efforts to develop academic and clinical care programs nationally and locally for adolescents and young adults with cancer.
He will remain on the faculty to spearhead the development of the international programs to engage new global partners, focusing on the Pacific Rim and Latin American nations. Along with Alex Judkins, MD, Siegel will help plan and initiate the hospital's efforts in personalized medicine, particularly in pediatric cancer. And, he will continue building the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Program to be based at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the Kenneth Norris Jr./USC Comprehensive Cancer Center, and continue his clinical activities in hematology-oncology.
David Cella, PhD, Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, has received the 2012 American Cancer Society Trish Greene Quality of Life Award to honor his work as an investigator in the field of quality of life research. "Dr. Cella's work has bettered the lives of those living with cancer and their families," said ACS President W. Phil Evans, MD. For the past 25 years, Cella has researched the psychosocial aspects of cancer survivorship, quality-of-life evaluation during cancer treatment, and quality-of-life outcomes in long-term cancer survivors. He received the award from ACS Chief Medical Officer Otis Brawley, MD, at a ceremony last month in Dallas.
Ben H. Han, MD, Co-founder of South Florida Radiation Oncology, has received the "Hero in Medicine" honor for Community Outreach to the Caridad Clinic in Palm Beach County, Florida, where he and partner physicians from SFRO provide radiation oncology medical treatments to patients in need. The Caridad Clinic operates free medical and dental clinics for uninsured, low-income families in the area.
University of Pennsylvania alumni Mindy and Jon Gray donated $25 million to Penn's Abramson Cancer Center at the Perelman School of Medicine to establish the Basser Research Center, which will focus on the treatment and prevention of BRCA1- and BRCA2-mutation cancers. The gift will also support a new endowed oncology professorship, recruit additional faculty, enhance core technologies such as bioinformatics and DNA vaccine production, launch an annual lectureship, and establish the Basser Prize to honor new research.
Susan Domchek, MD, Associate Professor of Hematology/Oncology in the Perelman School of Medicine and Current Director of the MacDonald Women's Cancer Risk Evaluation Center in the Cancer Center, will be the founding Executive Director of the new center.
Timothy Cripe, MD, PhD, Chief of Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplantation at Nationwide Children's Hospital, has been appointed a member of the FDA's Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapy Advisory Committee.
New members of the Oncology Nursing Society's Board of Directors are:
* Mary Gullatte, PhD, RN, ANP, BC, AOCN, FAAN, will serve as president. She is the Vice President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Emory University Hospital Midtown and part of the Adjunct Clinical Faculty at Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University.
* Julie Eggert, RN, PhD, GNP-C, AOCN, will serve again as secretary. She is Associate Professor and Doctoral Coordinator in the School of Nursing at Clemson University in South Carolina.
* Tracy K. Gosselin, RN, MSN, AOCN, will serve as treasurer. She is Associate Chief Nursing Officer and Assistant Vice President at Duke Cancer Institute.
* And continuing their terms as ONS directors-at-large are: Margaret Barton Burke, PhD, RN, the Mary Ann Lee Professor of Oncology Nursing at the University of Missouri; Mary Pat Johnston, RN, MS, AOCN, Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist at ProHealth Care, Regional Cancer Center in Waukesha, WI; Lori Williams, PhD, RN, APN, OCN, AOCN, Assistant Professor in the Department of Symptom Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and Vicki Norton, RN, OCN, Clinical Nursing Director at Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, MN.
The Chordoma Foundation has awarded a $10,000 cell line prize to Beate Rinner, PhD, of the Medical University of Graz, Austria. The award is part of the Foundation's contest intended to spur research interest in obtaining valid cell lines. Her work has tripled the number of valid chordoma cell lines available.
Robert Samuels has received the Priscilla Mack Survivorship Award, a Moffitt Cancer Center award given annually to recognize a cancer survivor who shows an outstanding commitment to the fight against cancer and is an inspiration to other cancer patients. He is the founding chairman of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition and the Florida Prostate Cancer Network, Inc; and in 2000, founded the original African American Men's Health Forum, an educational event open to all underinsured or uninsured men.
Gregory P. Adams, PhD, Co-Leader of the Developmental Therapeutics Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has been named to the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program's 2012 Integration Panel, which allocates the approximately $120 million of congressionally mandated breast cancer research funds.
Also at Fox Chase:
* Joanne Hambleton, RN, has assumed the newly created position of Senior Vice President for Patient Services. She has served 23 years at the center, including the roles as Assistant Director of Nursing, Director of Nursing and Patient Services, and Vice President of Nursing and Patient Services.
* Anne Jadwin, RN, MSN, AOCN, NE-BC, is now Vice President of Nursing Services and Chief Nursing Officer. She had been Assistant Vice President of Nursing and Patient Services since 2008. Her new role includes responsibility for inpatient and ambulatory care nursing services, including ambulatory care clinics and the infusion room/clinical research unit.
Smitha Krishnamurthi, MD, a gastrointestinal cancers specialist at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, was featured on the cover of Cleveland Magazine's "Best Doctors 2012" edition.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Harrington Discovery Institute has announced a new physician-scientist grant competition-up to 10 physician-scientists each year will be supported with Harrington Scholar-Innovator grants of as much as $200,000 over two years.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers has announced the following 2012 ACCC Innovator Award recipients recognized for exhibiting forward-thinking strategic planning and have developed pioneering programs and replicable models. "They all share the commitment to enhance cancer care in the community, empower their staff and their patients, and promote transformational change," said ACCC President George Kovach, MD, in a statement. The awarded member programs are:
* "How to Develop a Breast Cancer Program Across a Large Health System" at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, Minneapolis; Mercy & Unity Virginia Piper Cancer Institute, Unity Hospital, Fridley, MN; and United Hospital, Cancer Care, St. Paul, MN.
* "Rapid Access Chest and Lung Assessment Program" at Anne Arundel Medical Center, DeCesaris Cancer Institute, Annapolis, MD.
* "Bridging the Psychosocial and Financial Needs of Oncology Patients" at Akron General Medical Center, McDowell Cancer Center, Akron, OH.
* "A Comprehensive Team Approach for Patients with Head and Neck Cancer" at Dorcy Cancer Center at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center, Pueblo, CO.
* "New Approaches to Maximize Patient Flow and Reduce Inpatient Hospital Length of Stay" at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
* "A Unique Screening Outreach Program: ConvenientCare Mammography" at Grant Medical Center, Grant Cancer Care, Columbus, OH.
* "A Multidisciplinary Supportive Oncology Clinic with Integrated Medication Therapy Management" at Mountain States Tumor Institute, St. Luke's Regional Medical Center, Boise, ID.
* "Process Improvement Through Patient and Employee Feedback" at Southwest Cancer Center, UMC Health System, Lubbock, TX.
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