Anas Younes, MD, has left the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center after almost 21 years to be Chief of the Department of Lymphoma at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, where he started earlier this month. He replaces Andrew Zelenetz, MD, PhD, now MSKCC's Vice Chair for Medical Informatics. Younes actually began his career at MSKCC, where he was a fellow from 1989 to 1992.
George Weiner, MD, has been elected Vice-President of the Association of American Cancer Institutes, and will become the association's President in the fall of 2014. Weiner, the Director of the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa, plans to focus his AACI presidency on "the academic difference"-the increasingly central role that academic cancer centers play in cancer patient care and research, according to a news release.
Weiner is also the C.E. Block Chair of Cancer Research, Professor of Internal Medicine, and a faculty member in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology at the University of Iowa. He has served as a member of the AACI Board of Directors from 2004 to 2007 and currently chairs the organization's New Initiative Committee.
Kathleen Cooney, MD, has been named Deputy Director for Clinical Services at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, a new position, which she started on Jan. 1. She will also oversee the development of a network of community partners. She has been at U-M since 1991, with clinical interests focused in prostate cancer treatments. Her work led to the recent identification of a novel prostate cancer susceptibility gene, HOWB13, on chromosome 17.
Andre Goy, MD, MS, has been appointed Chief Science Officer and Director of Research and Innovation for Regional Cancer Care Associates in New Jersey. He will continue as Chairman and Executive Director at John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.
He will oversee the integration of research throughout the RCCA network of 92 cancer specialists at 25 care delivery sites, providing care to more than 230,000 patients. He will focus on novel therapies and biomarker-driven research.
Karen E. Knudsen, PhD, has been appointed Deputy Director of Basic Science and will hold the Hilary Koprowski Chair in the Department of Cancer Biology, at Jefferson University and the Kimmel Cancer Center. She has been at Thomas Jefferson since 2007 and will continue to serve as Leader of the Kimmel Cancer Center Biology of Prostate Cancer Program and Director of the Greater Philadelphia Prostate Cancer Working Group.
Edward J. Shin, MD, has been appointed Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, an affiliate of New York Medical College. He also serves as Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology, and had been Acting Chairman since 2011.
Sue Biggins, PhD, a geneticist and biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a member of the Center's Basic Sciences Division, has received the National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology to recognize her recent discovery of how to isolate kinetochores, cellular machines that play a role in the growth of most cancers. The $25,000 prize is sponsored by Pfizer, Inc.
The Community Oncology Alliance has announced the election of the following:
* President: Mark E. Thompson, MD, medical oncologist at the Zangmeister Center in Columbus, Ohio;
* Vice President: Bruce Gould, MD, Medical Director of Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers;
* Secretary: Jeffrey L. Vacirca, MD, CEO and Chief of Clinical Research at North Shore Hematology Oncology Associates in East Setauket, NY;
* Executive Committee: Scott Tetreault, MD (Officer at Large); David Eagle, MD (Immediate Past President); Harry Barnes, MD (Past President); and Ted Okon (Executive Director); and
* Board Members: Michael Diaz, MD, an oncologist at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, and Robert Green, MD, a medical oncologist at Palm Beach Cancer Institute.
Texas Children's Cancer Center has opened the Childhood Cancer Prevention and Screening Clinic to screen and follow children at high risk for developing childhood cancer, who may include pediatric patients with a genetic condition, siblings of pediatric cancer patients, and children with other family histories of cancer.
"Using cancer screening methods based on the latest medical evidence and tailored to the needs of each child, we can identify tumors sooner in these children, allowing for treatments to be implemented earlier, ultimately leading to improved survival rates," Surya Rednam, MD, the Clinic's new Director, said in a news release.
The American Association for Cancer Research and the Cancer Research Institute have established the AACR-CRI Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology to honor the memory of Lloyd J. Old, MD, a pioneer in innovative cancer immunology research, who died in November 2011 at age 78 (OT, 1/25/12). The recipient will receive a $10,000 honorarium, as well as support to attend the AACR Annual Meeting, which will be held in April in Washington, D.C. The recipient will also be invited to give a 50-minute lecture during the meeting.
"Dr. Old's prescient vision for the future of cancer treatment was rooted in his unwavering belief that the study of the immune system would ultimately yield the key to providing cancer patients with new and lifesaving treatment options," Jill O'Donnell-Tormey, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Scientific Affairs at CRI, said in a statement. "Many of Dr. Old's own important discoveries laid the foundation for today's successes in clinical cancer immunotherapy, and it is fitting that the AACR and CRI have so named an award that celebrates others who are unlocking the cancer-fighting secrets of our own immune system."
Share Your News!!
Send information and photos for this column to [email protected]