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NCCN Awards Latest Round
of Young Investigators With
$150,000 Grants
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Foundation has awarded
grants to six young investigators from NCCN Member Institutions. These awardees represent the fifth series of the NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Awards,
a program initiated in 2011. The grants will provide $150,000 in funding over a
two-year period, beginning in July 2015.
All awardees responded to a Request for Proposal issued by the NCCN Foundation, and
all submissions were reviewed by a multidisciplinary panel of oncology experts. Awardees
were selected based on several key components, including scientific merit and study design. The following are the 2015 NCCN Foundation Young Investigator Awards recipients:
James Blachly, MD, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James
Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute: “Genomic Stratification and Prognostication of Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia
by Combination Mutation Status”
Roisin Connolly, MB, BCh, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns
Hopkins: “Harnessing the Immune System
to Treat Breast Cancer: Novel Mechanisms
of Resistance and Treatment Strategies”
Areej El-Jawahri, MD, Massachusetts
General Hospital Cancer Center: “A Multimodal Intervention to Address Sexual
Dysfunction in Hematopoietic Stem Cell
Transplant Survivors”
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center Named NCCN
Member Institute
The National Comprehensive Cancer
Network (NCCN) announced that Case
Comprehensive Cancer Center, which
includes University Hospitals Seidman
Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig
Cancer Institute, has been elected to
institutional membership – joining 25
other member institutions throughout
the United States. “Case Comprehensive
Cancer Center brings to NCCN unique and
valuable attributes, including a robust
genomics program and clinical research
operational infrastructure, that indeed
will enhance the already extraordinary
collaboration of the alliance,” said Robert
W. Carlson, MD, the NCCN’s chief executive officer. “We look forward to working
with their renowned experts and leadership to further the NCCN mission, support
and enhance evidence-based decision-
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ASH Clinical News
several new appointments within the
Institute’s staff, including:
• Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, named as
Deputy Director
• Boris Kuvshinoff II, MD, MBA, named
Chief Medical Officer
• Victor Filadora, MD, MBA, named
Chief of Clinical Services
• Everett Weiss, MD, named Chief
Medical Information Officer
Medicine, which was established in 2014
by the Harrington Discovery Institute
at University Hospitals and the American Society for Clinical Investigation
to recognize a physician-scientist who
has successfully navigated the path to
advance discovery into clinical application. Dr. Lowy was recognized for his key
discoveries that led to the development
of the HPV vaccine to prevent cancer.
Source: Roswell Park Cancer Institute press release
Source: National Cancer Institute, University Hospitals’
press release
Ruben Mesa Elected Chair
of Arizona Cancer Coalition
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Alpa Nick, MD, The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center: “Matched Pair
Pharmacodynamics and Feasibility Study
of Pembrolizumab in Combination with
Chemotherapy in Frontline Ovarian Cancer”
Ruben Mesa, MD, professor of medicine
at Mayo Medical School and chair of the
division of hematology/oncology in the
Department of Internal Medicine at Mayo
Clinic, was unanimously elected to serve as
the next chair of the Arizona Cancer Coalition. The Coalition, housed in the Arizona
Department of Health, seeks to improve
the systems and policies of cancer prevention, increase the appropriate utilization
of cancer screenings, catalyze research,
and reduce disparities in cancer care. “I am
hopeful as we anticipate an era of unprecedented hope, collaboration and scientific
teamwork for decreasing the burden of cancer amongst Arizonans and that the Arizona
Cancer Coalition will play an important role
in these efforts,” Dr. Mesa said.
Source: NCCN press release
Source: Mayo Clinic press release
Douglas Johnson, MD, Vanderbilt-Ingram
Cancer Center: “Survivorship in Patients
Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors”
Todd Morgan, MD, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center: “Tissue-Based Genomics for Risk Stratification in Localized Renal Cell Carcinoma”
Douglas Lowy Named the
Acting Director of the NCI
making, and promote the importance of
continuous process improvement.” “Our
centers join an elite set of nationally
recognized cancer centers that set the
standards for exceptional cancer care,
coordinated cancer services, and topof-mind guidelines for patient management,” said Stanton Gerson, MD, director
of Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. “
Source: NCCN press release
Roswell Pa