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National Academy of Medicine Elects 79 New Members
The National Academy of Medicine ( NAM ) announced the election of 70 regular members and 9 international members during its annual meeting , increasing the Academy ’ s total active membership to 1,947 and the number of international members to 146 . The Academy recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service in the fields of health and medicine .
“ These newly elected members are outstanding professionals who care deeply about advancing health and health care in the United States and globally ,” said Victor J . Dzau , MD , president of NAM . “ Their expertise will help our organization address pressing health challenges and improve health , science , and medicine for the benefit of us all .”
The following hematology / oncology clinicians are among the newly inducted NAM members :
• Peter Brian Bach , MD , director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY
• Deborah Watkins Bruner , RN , PhD , Robert W . Woodruff Professor of Nursing ; associate director of cancer outcomes research at Winship Cancer Institute ; and professor of radiation oncology at Emory University , Atlanta , GA
• Maura Lianne Gillison , MD , PhD , professor of medicine and Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at Ohio State University , Columbus , OH
• Maria Jasin , PhD , member of the Developmental Biology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY
• Donald P . McDonnell , PhD , Glaxo-Wellcome Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology ; chair , department of pharmacology and cancer biology ; co-director , Women ’ s Cancer Program , Duke Cancer Institute ; and professor , department of medicine , Duke University School of Medicine , Durham , NC
• Kenneth Offit , MD , MPH , member and vice chair of academic affairs in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY
For a complete list of newly inducted members , visit nationalacademies . org .
Source : National Academy of Medicine news release , October 17 , 2016 .
Association of Pediatric Hematology / Oncology Nurses Announces Award Honorees
At its annual conference , the Association of Pediatric Hematology / Oncology Nurses ( APHON ) recognized several pediatric hematology / oncology nurses for their contributions to the field and patient advocacy .
Pamela S . Hinds , PhD , RN , director of nursing research and quality outcomes at the Children ’ s National Health System in Washington , DC , was awarded the first Dr . Nancy E . Kline Mentoring Award , which recognizes an APHON member who demonstrates excellence in mentoring ; who provides support , encouragement , and promotion of the professional development of others ; and whose impact has resulted in tangible accomplishments or outcomes .
The following nursing professionals were named winners of the 2016 Dr . Patricia Greene Leadership Award : Julia M . Challinor , RN , PhD ; Courtney Sullivan , MSN , NP , RN ; Kristin Belderson , DNP , MS , RN ; Linda Abramovitz , RN , MSN ; Richard J . Ramos , PNP , MS , CNS , RN ; Janie Avila , BSN , RN ; Paola Viveros Lamas , RN ; and Lorena Weber , RN . This award recognizes people who actively contributed to expanding the APHON Pediatric Chemotherapy / Biotherapy Program internationally .
Beth A . Siever , MSN , RN , CPNP , a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children ’ s National Medical Center in Washington , DC , was awarded the 2016 Dr . Casey Hooke Distinguished Service Award , in recognition of her advocacy efforts on behalf of pediatric hematology / oncology nurses .
Source : APHON news release , October 20 , 2016 .
Case Western Reserve Researchers Receive $ 380,000 in Funding for Pediatric Cancer Research
Reshmi Parameswaran , PhD
Nora L . Nock , PhD
St . Baldrick ’ s Foundation awarded $ 380,000 in funding to two researchers from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to advance their work in pediatric cancer .
Reshmi Parameswaran , PhD , assistant professor of hematology and oncology , was awarded $ 330,000 to develop immunotherapy options for pediatric patients with acute myeloid leukemia , with a goal of minimizing the physical and emotional consequences that can result from more toxic treatment regimens .
Nora L . Nock , PhD , associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics , was awarded a $ 50,000 grant to conduct a pilot study of “ cybercycling ” ( stationary cycling with interactive video gaming ) to improve fitness and quality of life and to increase motivation to exercise and improve body composition , cognition , and sleep , as well as reduce fatigue and depression in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors .
Source : St . Baldrick ’ s Foundation press release , October 5 , 2016 .
NIH Announces High-Risk , High- Reward Research Program Awards
The National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) announced the winners of 88 grants , awarded through the agency ’ s High-Risk , High-Reward Research ( HRHR ) program , which is part of the NIH ’ s Common Fund . The HRHR program identifies scientists with potentially high-impact ideas that may be too early in development to fare well in the traditional peer-review process .
The 2016 list of awardees included 12 Pioneer Awards , 48 New Innovator Awards , 12 Transformative Research Awards , and 16 Early Independence Awards , totaling approximately $ 127 million in grants . Below is a list of grant recipients with hematology-related projects :
• Bassem Al-Sady , PhD , University of California at San Francisco Project Title : Reconstructing Dynamic Epigenetic Genome Partitioning in Single Stem Cells
• Effie Apostolou , PhD , Weill Cornell Medicine , New York , NY Project Title : Defining the Role of Chromatin Architecture in Cell Fate Inheritance
• Daniel E . Bauer , MD , PhD , Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber / Boston Children ’ s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center , Boston , MA Project Title : High-Throughput Discovery of Essential Noncoding Sequences for Erythropoiesis
• Shangqin Guo , PhD , Yale University , New Haven , CT Project Title : Molecular Definition of Cancer Cell-of-Origin
For the complete list of awardees , visit commonfund . nih . gov .
Source : National Institutes of Health news release , October 4 , 2016 .
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