Sidney J. Winawer, MD, has received the American Gastro-enterological Asso-ciation's Distinguished Achievement Award, honoring an individual who has made a major specific accomplishment in clinical or basic research in gastroenterology or an allied field that advances gastroenterology.
Dr. Winawer, the Paul Sherlock Chair in Medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, was recognized for his landmark contributions to colorectal cancer prevention and colon polyp management-for example, he organized and conducted the National Polyp Study (NPS) multicenter randomized control trial, which first established colonoscopy and polypectomy as effective in preventing colorectal cancer and became the core of data that convinced the US Congress to pay for screening colonoscopy for Medicare patients.
A second NPS report established that most patients can undergo colonoscopy at three years rather than at the usual practice of one year after adenoma removal, and initiated the era of risk stratification in post-polypectomy surveillance. A third NPS study ended the controversy about the relative merits of colonoscopy and barium enema, in favor of colonoscopy. The award is sponsored by AstraZeneca.
The Oncology Nursing Society has announced its 2011-2012 Board of Directors. Carlton Brown, RN, PhD, AOCN, Assistant Professor in the University of Delaware School of Nursing, continues in the second year of his two-year term as President. The new President-Elect is Mary Gullatte, PhD, RN, APRN, BC, AOCN, FAAN, Associate Chief Nursing Officer at Emory University Hospital Midtown and adjunct clinical faculty at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. Officers continuing in their roles include Secretary Julie Eggert, RN, PhD, GNP-C, AOCN, Associate Professor and Doctoral Program Coordinator at Clemson University and Cancer-Risk Screening Program, Bon Secours-St. Francis Eastside, Greenville, South Carolina; and Treasurer Laura Fennimore, RN, DNP, Director of Clinical Programs, Medicaid, Special Needs Plans, and Children's Insurance Plan, UPMC Health Plan, in Pittsburgh.
Newly elected ONS Directors-at-Large are Vicki Norton, RN, OCN, Inpatient Oncology Nurse Manager at Methodist Hospital in Minnesota, and Lori Williams, PhD, RN, APN, OCN, AOCN, Assistant Professor in the Depart-ment of Symptom Research at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. ONS Directors-at-Large continuing their terms are Michele Gaguski, MSN, RN, AOCN, CHPN, APN-C, Clinical Director for Medical Oncology/Infusion Services at the Atlanticare Cancer Care Institute in New Jersey; Margaret Barton-Burke, PhD, RN, the Mary Ann Lee Endowed 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 Wisconsin; and Emma Dann, RN, MS, OCN, NE-BC, oncology clinical specialist with Amgen in Maine.
"The task set before ONS is monumental-to truly help navigate the future for oncology nurses and the patients and families we care for," said Dr. Brown. "This Board of Directors is perhaps our most diverse in history, and we represent many different facets of nursing and the healthcare landscape. I'm confident we will move ONS forward to the next level of success-our members and patients deserve the best."
David C. Madoff, MD, has been appointed Chief of Interventional Radiology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell as well as Professor of Radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. "I am very pleased to welcome Dr. Madoff, an outstanding clinician, scientist, and educator with unique expertise in a wide range of complex cancers, particularly liver cancer," Dr. Robert J. Min, Chairman and Radiologist-in-Chief at the institutions, said in a statement. Dr. Madoff was previously at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Andrew Wang, MD, of the University of North Carolina and Andrew Tsourkas, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania have received a $100,000 award from the Keck Futures Initiative for development of nanoparticle-based multiplex multimodality imaging agents for the specific and sensitive detection of cancer.
A news release notes that the research proposes development of a new class of imaging agents that enable multiplex and multimodality imaging. Using cutting-edge nanotechnology, these agents will allow for the early detection of malignancies on multiple imaging platforms (MRI and SPECT) and will provide detailed biological information, which can improve tumor staging and treatment.
Established through a $40 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation in 2003, the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative is a 15-year effort to enhance communication among researchers, funding agencies, universities, and the general public with the objective of stimulating interdisciplinary research at the most exciting frontiers. The Futures Initiative, which this year gave out 13 awards in a variety of fields, is designed to enable researchers from different disciplines to focus on new questions and entirely new research, and to encourage better communication among scientists as well as between the scientific community and the public.
Patrick Brown, MD, a pediatric oncologist at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, has received a research scholar grant for four years of funding totaling $720,000, from the American Cancer Society, for his research on the use of targeted epigenetic therapy. The grant, which goes into effect July 1, is among 132 national research and training grants totaling $51,473,000 in the second of two grants cycles for 2011 from the American Cancer Society.
Charles M. Rudin, MD, PhD, Associate Director for Clinical Research and Co-Director of the Upper Aerodigestive Cancer Program at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, has been awarded a Caring for Carcinoid Foundation-AACR Grant for Carcinoid Tumor and Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor Research. These two-year grants totaling $250,000 ($125,000 per year) support junior and senior investigators as they develop and study innovative approaches that have direct application and relevance to carcinoid tumors or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.
Dr. Rudin's research group focuses on novel cancer therapeutic development, with a particular emphasis on the use of a small RNA virus that can selectively infect and destroy certain cancers, especially cancers with neuroendocrine features.
Baylor Research Institute (BRI) has appointed Yong-Jun Liu, MD, PhD, to be Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer for BRI and Director of the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR). He was previously at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as Professor and Chair of the Department of Immunology, Director of the Center for Cancer Immunology Research, and the Vivian L. Smith Distinguished Chair in Immunology. He is expected to make the transition to Baylor over the next few months.
"We are extremely fortunate and proud to have been able to attract one of the most distinguished immunologists in the world to lead our research efforts at BIIR and to reinforce the work being done in oncology, transplant, and other therapeutic areas," Joel Allison, President and CEO of Baylor Health Care System, said in a statement.
"It is especially timely as cancer care at Baylor is reaching a new phase with the recent opening of the Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. Dr. Liu has the expertise and insights to support the advancement of cancer research to unparalleled heights and ultimately benefitting our patients."
Edwin Posadas, MD, has joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as Clinical Director of the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program in the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
Edward Phillips, MD, Executive Vice Chair of the Department of Surgery of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, has been elected a fellow in the American Surgical Association. Dr. Phillips has been a leader in developing minimally invasive surgery, particularly advanced laparoscopic surgery. He is also Director of the Saul and Joyce Brandman Breast Center, a Project of the Women's Guild at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; Chief of the Division of General Surgery; Director of the Wasserman Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Program at the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute; Director of the Center for Weight Loss; and a surgeon at the Colorectal Cancer Center of Excellence.
Harold M. Maurer, MD, Chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was selected to receive a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the school he earned his medical degree from-State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
A pediatric oncologist, he was Chair of the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group (IRSG) for 26 years. Studies from the group have been credited with raising the cure rate from 20% to 75% percent via the development of a repetitive-course, multi-agent chemotherapy regimen. A 1961 graduate, Dr. Maurer was scheduled to be honored at the 131st Anniversary Alumni Reunion on May 21.
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New Members of the National Academy of Sciences
Among the 72 new members of the National Academy of Sciences are the following:
* David P. Bartel, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and Professor of Biology at MIT.
* Arthur L. Beaudet, the Arthur L.; Henry and Emma Meyer Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.
* James A. Birchler, Curators' Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri, Columbia.
* Rebecca H. Buckley, the J. Buren Sidbury Professor of Pediatrics and Immunology at Duke University Medical Center.
* Harry C. Dietz, III, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Victor A. McKusick Professor of Genetics and Medicine at the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
* Daniel E. Gottschling, a full member in the Basic Sciences Division of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
* R. Scott Hawley, investigator in the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City.
* John E. Heuser, Professor of Biophysics in the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine.
* Scott J. Hultgren, the Helen L. Stoever Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Director of the Center for Women's Infectious Disease Research, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.
* James T. Hynes, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder.
* Steven E. Jacobsen, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, UCLA.
* Alexander E. Johnson, Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco
* William L. Jorgensen, the Sterling Professor of Chemistry, Yale University.
* David M. Kingsley, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and Professor of Developmental Biology, Stanford University.
* Brian K. Kobilka, Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.
* Ching Kung, the Vilas Professor of Genetics and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
* Nancy Friend, Pritzker Laboratory, Stanford University School of Medicine.
* James L. Manley, the Julian Clarence Levi Professor of Life Sciences, Columbia University.
* Lynne E. Maquat, the J. Lowell Orbison Chair and Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.
* J. Andrew McCammon, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and John E. Mayer Chair of Theoretical Chemistry, department of chemistry and biochemistry, University of California, San Diego.
* Susan K. McConnell, the Susan B. Ford Professor of Biology, Stanford University.
* Ira S. Mellman, Vice President of Research Oncology, Genentech Inc.
* Carl F. Nathan, Chairman, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Weill Cornell Medical College.
* Michel C. Nussenzweig, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the Sherman Fairchild Professor and Senior Physician, Rockefeller University.
* Piermaria J. Orrddone, Director, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the Luis F. Parada Professor and Diana K. and Richard C. Strauss Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
* Geraldine L. Richmond, the Richard M. and Patricia H. Noyes Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon.
* Peter J. Rossky, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Marvin K. Collie-Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry, University of Texas, Austin.
* Stephen T. Warren, the William Patterson Timmie Professor and Chair, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine.
* Sunney X. Xie, the Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University.
In addition, the following are among the newly elected foreign associates:
* Margaret Buckingham, Professor and Director, Department of Developmental Biology, Pasteur Institute, Paris.
* Akira Endo, Director, Biopharm Research Laboratories Inc., Tokyo.
* Franz-Ulrich Hartl, Director, Department of Cellular Biochemistry, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry.
* Louise N. Johnson, the David Phillips Professor in Molecular Biophysics, Oxford University.
* Alberto R. Kornblihtt, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Buenos Aires.
* Jiayang Li; Professor, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology and Vice President, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.
* Steven O'Rahilly, Co-director, Institute of Metabolic Science, and Director, Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories, University of Cambridge.
Conference Room Named for Margaret Kripke
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has named a conference room in honor of Margaret L. Kripke, PhD. About 50 people attended a celebration for the site, which is the main conference room in the suite for the Executive Vice President and Provost.
Shown here is the exhibit, which has the following inscription: "The pioneering research that Margaret L. Kripke, PhD, conducted during an illustrious 35-year career demonstrated the role of ultraviolet radiation in the induction and growth of skin cancer and originated the field of photoimmunology. She joined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1983 as founding chair of the Department of Immunology and the first holder of the Vivian L. Smith Distinguished Chair in Immu-nology. She advanced to senior vice president and chief academic officer, becoming the first woman member of top management, and was twice appointed to the three-member President's Cancer Panel that evaluates the national cancer program. Throughout her celebrated career, she was widely appreciated as an exceptional role model and tireless advocate for women in medical science."