Scott A. Armstrong, MD, PhD, Director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Leukemia Center, Vice Chair for Basic and Translational Research in the Department of Pediatrics, and the Grayer Family Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, received the Frank A. Oski Lectureship award from the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. He presented the Oski Memorial Lecture, "MLL-Rearranged Leukemias: Stem Cells, Histone Modifications, and New Therapies," at the ASPHO Annual Meeting earlier this month.
The award honors an outstanding clinical or laboratory investigator in pediatric hematology/oncology who has contributed cutting-edge research in the field.
The following members of the oncology community have received awards from the Clinical Research Forum as part of the organization's annual Top 10 Clinical Research Achievement Awards:
* Stephan A. Grupp, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of Translational Research at the Center for Childhood Cancer Research at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, received the Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award for "Chimeric antigen receptor-modified T cells for acute lymphoid leukemia;"
* Denise R. Aberle, MD, Professor of Radiology at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering at UCLA Henry Samulei School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, received a Distinguished Clinical Research Award for "Results of the Two Incidence Screenings in the National Lung Screening Trial;" and
* John C. Byrd, MD, the D. Warren Brown Chair of Leukemia Research and Professor of Medicine and Medicinal Chemistry at Ohio State University, also received a Distinguished Clinical Research Award for "Targeting BTK with Ibrutinib in Relapsed Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia."
The Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association announced the recipients of its Membership Awards at the Annual Conference in March:
* Rowena (Moe) Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, Senior Director of Clinical Content and Services at McKesson Specialty Health in Texas, received the HOPA Award of Excellence, which recognizes a member who has made a significant sustained contribution to or provided excellent leadership in improving or supporting hematology/oncology pharmacy. Schwartz is a HOPA founding member and past president, and has served on numerous committees.
* Casey Williams, PharmD, BCOP, Clinical Director of Research at Sanford Research in Sioux Fall, South Dakota, received the HOPA Basic Science and Clinical Research Literature Award for his article "Preclinical and Phase I Results of Decitabine in Combination with Midostaurain (PKC412) for Newly Diagnosed Elderly or Relapsed/Refractory Adult Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia." The award recognizes an author who has written an important scientific article in the past 12 months describing hematology/oncology basic science.
* Robert Mancini, PharmD, BCOP, Oncology Pharmacist at Mountain States Tumor Institute in Boise, Idaho, received the HOPA New Practitioner Award, which recognizes a member early in his or her career who has made a notable contribution to developing or supporting clinical hematology/oncology pharmacy services. Mancini is a strong advocate for pharmacists in the hematology/oncology profession, giving presentations to local pharmacy students about the role pharmacists play in hematology/oncology and serving as the primary pharmacist educator for support groups.
* Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, PharmD, RPh, Specialty Practice Pharmacist at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, received the HOPA Patient Advocacy Award, which recognizes a HOPA member who demonstrates leadership and collaboration while advocating for outstanding patient care.
* Ali McBride, PharD, MS, BCPS, Clinical Coordinator at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, received the HOPA Oncology Pharmacy Practice Literature Award for his article "Comparative Evaluation of Single Fixed Dosing and Weight-Based Dosing of Rasburicase for Tumor Lysis Syndrome." The award recognizes an author who has written an article that contributes significantly to the betterment of the hematology/oncology pharmacy profession.
Becky L. DeKay, MBA, Director of Oncology Services at Feist-Weiller Cancer Center at Louisiana State University Health Shreveport, is now President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers.
DeKay has been active in ACCC since joining the staff of LSU Health Shreveport in 2003. She has served on the Governmental Affairs Committee, chaired both the Membership and the Strategic Planning Committees, and has published articles in the Association's journal. She has also served as ACCC Treasurer for two years.
At Feist-Weiller, Dekay oversees the functions of the cancer center, which houses the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital affiliate program for pediatric patients, adult hematology and oncology, surgical oncology, ENT oncology, digital mammography, diagnostic radiology, and computed tomography, as well as clinical research. She has served on various community boards and chaired numerous development fundraisers.
Michael S. Gordon, MD, has been named Medical Director of the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials Program at Scottsdale Healthcare to oversee the center's Phase I Clinical Trials Program. He is also CEO of Pinnacle Oncology Hematology, a division of Arizona Center for Cancer Care in Scottsdale, where his work focuses on translational research and the care and management of cancer patients seeking Phase I and II clinical trials. He is also Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and Co-director of the Oncology Block (for which he is actively engaged in the education of medical students). He will continue in all of these positions upon assuming the Clinical Trials Director role.
Gareth Morgan, MD, PhD, was named Director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, succeeding Bart Barlogie, MD, PhD, the Institute's founder. Barlogie has chosen to step down as Director, but will remain at the Institute to focus on clinical care and research.
Morgan, who will assume the new role at UAMS in July, currently serves as a clinician and researcher with the Myeloma UK Research Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research in London. He is also Director of the patient organization Myeloma UK, as well as a member of the Scientific Board of the International Myeloma Foundation and Scientific Secretary for the UK Myeloma Forum. He is also a Founding Director of the European Myeloma Network.
"There isn't a single treatment for myeloma but rather, there are many different, personalized treatment strategies, one of which is appropriate for a particular individual patient," Morgan said in a news release. "We envision establishing a series of clinical trials investigating new treatments based on each patient's unique myeloma fingerprint."
Cornelia Ulrich, PhD, Director of the National Center for Tumor Diseases and Department Head at the German Cancer Research Center, will join Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah in September as Senior Director of Population Sciences. Her husband, Bruce A. Edgar, PhD, Professor and researcher at the German Cancer Research Center-Center for Molecular Biology Heidelberg Alliance, will also join HCI, to head a laboratory within its Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program. He will also serve as Professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences at the University of Utah.
"Dr. Ulrich and Dr. Edgar are a 'dynamic duo,' bringing with them an incredible breadth of knowledge and experience from the cancer research world," Mary Beckerle, PhD, HCI's CEO and Director, said in a news release. "They are highly regarded researchers, both in the United States and in Europe, and we are indeed fortunate to have them join our ranks. Dr. Ulrich's studies into cancer prevention, especially in the realm of colon cancer, have brought major discoveries that have saved countless lives, and Dr. Edgar's work in cell cycle progression and proliferation have deepened our understanding of how normal cells become malignant."
Patricia J. Goldsmith has been named Chief Executive Officer of CancerCare. "Patricia is an oncology visionary with an outstanding record of achievement, and we look forward to expanding CancerCare's service offerings under her leadership," Susan Smirnoff, President of the nonprofit organization's National Board of Trustees, said in a news release.
Goldsmith has previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network; and was most recently Vice President for Institutional Development, Public Affairs, and Marketing at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute.
Social Media Award for OT!
OT was recognized in this year's American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors awards, with a Silver Award in the category of Best Use of Social Media-specifically for Twitter. The organization notes that the annual awards, which are given in 17 editorial categories, six graphics categories, and seven overall publication categories, recognize "editorial excellence and achievement in the field of health care publishing."
New Poetry Book by Frank Meyskens
Frank L. Meyskens, Jr., MD, has a new book of poetry, Believing in Today (Fithian Press, ISPN 978-1-56474-558-3), published earlier this month.
This is his second collection of poems-the first, Aching for Tomorrow, published in 2007, was inspired mostly by his career as an oncologist.
A long-time member of OT's Editorial Board, he is Professor of Medicine, Biological Chemistry, Public Health, and Epidemiology at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also Vice Dean of the School of Medicine and Director Emeritus of the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. It was his idea to include poetry as a regular feature in Oncology Times.
He notes that he thinks of this new collection of poems as "Reflections of an Aging Scholar." The poems, most of which are intensely emotional, concern loss, grief, and mortality, as well as a range of other topics, both medical and non-medical.
The book is dedicated to his wife, "Linda (my muse), and my family, friends, and colleagues who resist the temptation of total security at the expense of freedom."
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