Terry Hyslop, PhD, Joins SKCC as Cancer Risk & Control Program Co-Leader
Terry Hyslop, PhD, a transdisciplinary population health researcher, has been chosen as Co-Leader of the Cancer Risk and Control Program at Jefferson Health's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC). She is returning to SKCC from the Duke Cancer Institute, where she served as Professor of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics for the past 8 years. Previously, she was Director of the Biostatistics Division at Jefferson.
"I am ecstatic that Dr. Terry Hyslop will rejoin the cancer center as the Co-Leader of the Cancer Risk and Control Program. She is known for her expertise focused on disparities and health equity in cancer, which will enhance the depth and breadth of SKCC and create unique opportunities to strengthen our consortium relationship [with Drexel University], as well as broaden our mentorship capabilities," said Andrew Chapman, DO, SKCC Director and Executive Vice President of Oncology Services at Jefferson Health.
During her tenure at Duke, Hyslop led many projects and brings two new projects to SKCC. In the first project, she is partnering with Melissa Troester, PhD, principal investigator of the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, which is based at the University of North Carolina. They will develop a modeling framework that links immune signaling and social and environmental determinants of health in a study of metastatic breast cancer, which is funded by the Komen Foundation. In a National Cancer Institute-funded study, Hyslop is working with Duke epidemiologist Meira Epplein, PhD, to develop a "cells to society" model of disparities in gastric cancer and the role of H. pylori and other co-infections.
"The recruitment of Dr. Hyslop back to SKCC remarkably amplifies our already formidable strengths in cancer prevention and control in the Jefferson catchment area. Moreover, she brings the extra-added dimension of focusing on determinants of cancer disparities and their associated health equities, which are central to improving the lives of patients in our community," said Scott Waldman, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology.
In addition to her role as Co-leader of the Cancer Risk and Control Program, Hyslop will lead the newly formed SKCC Center for Health Equity. "This center will look to address the needs of our catchment area and span the cancer continuum with a focus on prevention to survivorship, incorporating studies of obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic health, aging, smoking, and other risk behaviors, HPV prevention, and many others," she noted. "In particular, we will focus on the structural inequities across the social, environmental, economic, and cultural determinants of health that lead to disparities in outcomes. This will bring together efforts across our consortium with Drexel University to make an impact on Philadelphia."
Anna D. Barker, PhD, Receives Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology
Anna D. Barker, PhD, Chief Strategy Officer at the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, has been chosen as the recipient of the inaugural Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology from The AIM-HI Accelerator Fund. She also serves as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University.
Barker is honored for her accomplishments in championing, designing, and implementing innovative, often unprecedented, scientific and clinical programs that have enabled advances in the field of cancer research and provided critical support for the development of precision oncology. These programs have engaged numerous institutions, clinicians, researchers, and patients to catalyze new thinking and novel approaches to solve major problems in cancer.
In her role as Principal Deputy Director and Deputy Director for Strategic Scientific Initiatives at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Barker created novel programs to inform the development of precision oncology, such as areas in nanotechnology, proteomics, and convergence science-most notably The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Co-founded in 2004 by Barker and Francis Collins, MD, PhD, former Director of the National Institutes of Health, and launched in 2005 as a collaboration between the NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), TCGA has proven to be transformative for cancer research.
Impacting virtually every area of cancer research, the TCGA teams molecularly characterized 33 tumor types, including 10 rare cancers. In doing so, this provided an unprecedented data resource for what has become multi-omics-based precision oncology. Barker collaboratively coordinated the planning and design phases of the program with NCI, NHGRI, and extramural scientists and for several years led the teams that managed the project through its pilot and scaleup phases.
Another paradigm-shifting program in which Barker played a critical role was the creation of GBM AGILE, an unprecedented adaptive platform clinical trial for glioblastoma. To reduce the mortality rates by rapidly and safely bringing new drugs and therapies into the clinic, Barker convened and led the creation of a global coalition of 130 oncologists, statisticians, pathologists, neurosurgeons, imagers, patient advocates, and cancer researchers from different organizations and countries to design an innovative clinical trial program, the GBM AGILE (Glioblastoma Adaptive, Global, Innovative Learning Environment). Currently performed under an FDA-approved master protocol, GBM AGILE determines the efficacy of novel therapies through seamless stages that rapidly transition successful agents to FDA registration. The ongoing progress of the GBM AGILE framework promises to rapidly and effectively change how GBM patients are treated.
The Beacon Award for Women Leaders in Oncology was established in 2022 by the AIM-HI Accelerator Fund, a translational research affiliate of the National Foundation for Cancer Research, to bridge the funding gap in translating innovations from the lab to the clinic and amplify women leaders and entrepreneurs. It recognizes outstanding women leaders in the health and life sciences industry who have made a significant impact on advancing cancer treatment, detection, and diagnosis for patients around the world.
"It is my honor to accept this inaugural award on behalf of the patients I serve in all my efforts. A special thanks to my many colleagues and scientists who did the work to achieve the goals of the programs cited by this award-all of whom contributed unselfishly to their success," Barker noted. "I also applaud Dr. Ba, the NFCR, and AIM-HI Accelerator Fund for recognizing the critical role of forward-looking and complex large-scale science like TCGA and GBM AGILE in fundamentally understanding cancer by empowering individual scientists and teams and increasing the rate of progress toward a future where cancer will be detected early and successfully treated or prevented for all patients."
Tiffany Shaw, MD, Named Regional Medical Director of Supportive Care Medicine
Medical oncologist Tiffany Shaw, MD, has been appointed Regional Medical Director for Supportive Care Medicine at Huntington Cancer Center, an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Cancer. Her work at the cancer center will expand upon existing supportive care medicine services offered at Cedars-Sinai Cancer. She will also develop programs for hospice, palliative care, and end-of-life research.
"The role of supportive care medicine in cancer care has never been more important, and we are thrilled that Dr. Shaw will be expanding these services to our patients," said Dan Theodorescu, MD, PhD, Director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer and the Phase ONE Foundation Distinguished Chair. "We can now deepen our commitment to offering life-extending treatments and improving quality of life through a holistic and team-centric approach based on supportive care medicine principles."
Shaw first knew that she wanted to become a doctor at age 4, and by the time she entered medical school, she knew oncology was her chosen field. She received her medical degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and completed her internal medicine residency at the UC Davis Medical Center.
Shaw's passion for supportive care medicine came during her medical training, after her aunt was diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer that was no longer curable. She went on to serve as a palliative care and hospice fellow at Cedars-Sinai and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and completed her hematology/oncology fellowship at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, serving as Chief Fellow during her last year.
"My aunt refused to see a palliative care expert, and it made me recognize how little people understood the invaluable role of supportive care medicine and how many misconceptions surround these services," said Shaw. "I really didn't want patients to have that same misunderstanding, which led me into this important field."
Cedars-Sinai Cancer's longstanding supportive care medicine program brings together specialists in pain and symptom management who can also help patients and caregivers navigate care goals, make treatment decisions, and reduce the side effects of cancer therapies.
Shaw said conversations with her patients range in topic from what exercise programs they can participate in to how their diet will affect their treatment plans, and what supplements they can or cannot take.
"Cancer affects every aspect of a person's life, so it's important that we identify goals of care, encourage patients to express their preferences regarding medical treatments, and help to ensure that goals are honored," Shaw noted. "Supportive care medicine allows us to treat the whole person, not just their diagnosis. I'm honored to have these important conversations with my patients and their loved ones."
Cancer Center Launches New PhD Program In Translational Cancer Biology
The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center is now offering a new PhD program dedicated to clinically relevant research in cancer biology. In the PhD in Translational Cancer Biology program, students will complete research alongside faculty mentors who are leading researchers at the cancer center.
"The cancer center's National Cancer Institute designation-particularly as a comprehensive center-means we excel not only at research, but also in helping build the next generation of cancer researchers," said Harikrishna Nakshatri, PhD, Associate Director of Education at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and Director of the translational cancer research doctoral program. "We need to make sure there is a strong workforce available, and this PhD program will help us create the workforce needed for future research and drug discovery," he noted.
This is the first PhD program in Indiana to focus on the clinical translation of cancer biology. Students enrolled in this program will have the opportunity to participate in clinical training, such as shadowing oncologists and physician-scientists and observing tumor board reviews. These are opportunities uniquely available due to the program's proximity to clinical care with IU School of Medicine.
Students will complete coursework and research that will translate to clinical applications for patients, including topics such as cancer prevention and control, cancer genomics, biomarkers of cancer progression, developing novel therapies for specific cancers, the impact of cancer on quality of life, and improving the quality of life for survivors.
"We know that research cures cancer, and this program will cultivate the brilliant minds we need in our labs to develop tomorrow's cures," said Kelvin Lee, MD, Director of the cancer center. "This program will uniquely prepare investigators to understand how lab research translates to patient treatments and outcomes."
The first cohort of students will begin the program in fall 2023. Students pursuing this degree will apply through the IU School of Medicine Indiana BioMedical Gateway Program, which provides a shared first-year experience for all IU School of Medicine biomedical science PhD program students. Following that first year of coursework, students can choose the translational cancer biology PhD program. Students who have completed at least a bachelor's degree and are interested in pursuing cancer biology research can apply. The 90-credit-hour program will take approximately 5 years to complete.
A New International Collaboration to Reduce Women's Cancers
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and World Health Organization (WHO) will establish a new international collaboration concentrated on reducing the global burden of women's cancers. The agreement builds on years of collaboration between the two institutions to further promote their shared efforts in advancing global cancer initiatives in women's cancers, including breast and cervical cancers.
"Collaborating with WHO aligns with MD Anderson's mission to provide exceptional cancer care to people in Texas, the country, and around the globe through programs that integrate patient care, research, prevention, and education," said Peter WT Pisters, MD, President of MD Anderson. "It also aligns with our institution's strategy and our commitment to building strong international relationships to serve the global community and improve quality of life at the population level."
WHO, the directing and coordinating authority on international health within the United Nations (UN) system, aims to support UN members in strengthening their cancer control programs through global cancer initiatives like women's (breast and cervical) and childhood cancers. As one of WHO's adult cancer collaborators, MD Anderson has worked previously with WHO to treat cancer patients at various WHO disease sites and has assisted in strengthening its cancer control programs.
Through this collaboration with WHO's Department of Noncommunicable Diseases, MD Anderson experts will support WHO in cancer-related efforts-including providing technical consultations, participating in working groups, and publishing peer-reviewed scientific articles that contribute to the understanding of breast and cervical cancers-and will lend their knowledge and expertise to provide training materials for the implementation of WHO cancer initiatives. This agreement represents a concerted effort between the two organizations and serves as an important step toward MD Anderson becoming a WHO Collaborating Center.
"Early detection and treatment have proven successful in high-income countries, but unfortunately, low-income countries have limited resources and lack access to early diagnosis and lifesaving therapies," said Bente Mikkelsen, MD, Director of Noncommunicable Disease at WHO. "We are happy to join forces with MD Anderson to end cancer by supporting countries with limited resources in order to reduce their breast and cervical cancer mortality and to improve the quality of individual lives."
In 2020, 2.3 million women were diagnosed with breast cancer, with 685,000 deaths, globally. As of the end of 2020, 7.8 million women alive had been diagnosed with breast cancer in the previous 5 years, making it the world's most prevalent cancer. Worldwide, cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 604,000 new cases and 342,000 deaths in 2020. About 90 percent of these cases occur in low- and middle-income countries due to limited access to preventative measures and treatments, and delayed diagnoses, leading to advanced stage cancers in a higher rate of death from cervical cancer in these countries.
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