Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, has been appointed as the next foreign secretary of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In the part-time position, Hamburg will serve as a senior adviser on international matters to the IOM President and Council, and liaison to foreign academies of medicine and science. Her term began in April and is effective through June 2019. She replaces Jo Ivey Boufford, MD, President of the New York Academy of Medicine.

Figure. No caption available.

"[Hamburg's] experience and interests equip her superbly for the role of foreign secretary, and I look forward to working with her to expand IOM's global leadership," IOM President Victor J. Dzau, MD, said in a news release.

MARGARET A. HAMBURG, MD. MARGARET A. HAMBURG, MD

In addition to having served as FDA Commissioner, Hamburg has previously served as a senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Albert L. Siu, MD, MSPH, has been appointed Chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Current Vice Chair, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, will remain in her position; and David C. Grossman, MD, MPH, will be rejoining the Task Force as Vice Chair.

Siu has previously served as a member of the Task Force from June 2001 to December 2006, as well as Vice Chair from March 2011 to March 2015. He is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz Mount Sinai Health System Chair and Professor of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also Director of Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and has served as Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health.

ALBERT L. SIU, MD, MSPH. ALBERT L. SIU, MD, MSPH

Siu, who is also Senior Associate Editor of Health Services Research, with research focusing on the measurement and improvement of functional outcomes in the elderly, replaces Michael L. LeFevre, MD, MSPH, and will serve a one-year term.

Candace Johnson, PhD, President and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, has made the following new staff appointments to the leadership team there since assuming her current role in February (OT 4/10/15 issue).

"In many cases, these new appointments represent Roswell Park Cancer Institute parlaying our own existing strengths and talents," Johnson said in a news release. "Restructuring some of these positions allows us to use our staff's critical knowledge in the field to affect the policies and procedures that will enhance and improve our medical and scientific work."

* Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, FRCOG, FACOG, was named Deputy Director of the Institute;

* Boris Kuvshinoff II, MD, MBA, was named Chief Medical Officer;

* Victor Filadora, MD, MBA, was named Chief of Clinical Services;

* Thomas Schwaab, MD, PhD, was named Chief of Strategy, Business Development and Outreach;

* Everett Weiss, MD, recently joined RPCI as Chief Medical Information Officer;

* Errol Douglas, SPHR, recently joined RPCI as Vice President of Human Resources;

* Terrie Kothe, was named Vice President of Managed Care;

* Pamela Germain, MBA, was named Vice President for Strategic Initiatives;

* Mary Reid, MSPH, PhD, was named Director of Cancer Screening and Survivorship;

* David Goodrich, PhD, was named Interim Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics;

* Julia Faller, DO, MS, was named Medical Director of Perioperative Services; and

* James Mohler, MD, was named Associate Director of Cancer Center Support Grant Shared Resources.

A team of researchers at Duke Cancer Center has received a $200,000, two-year grant from the Farrah Fawcett Foundation to explore new ways of targeting and disabling the virus that causes most anal cancers. S. David Hsu, MD, PhD, the William Dalton Family Assistant Professor in Cancer Genomics at Duke, will be the project's principal investigator.

"We're trying to find a way to target HPV, the causative agent behind most anal cancers," Hsu said in a news release. First his team will study the growth of anal cancer in mouse models using patient-derived xenografts; and they will then work with Bryan Cullen, PhD, the James B. Duke Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, to disable one of the key genes in HPV that causes anal cancers. Hsu added that by disabling the HPV that causes anal cancers, the research could provide insights for developing new approaches to complement and reduce complications and side effects caused by chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery, the current standard treatments.

S. DAVID HSU, MD, PHD. S. DAVID HSU, MD, PHD

David Baltimore, PhD, President Emeritus and the Robert Andrews Milikan Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, was honored with the American Association for Cancer Research-Irving Weinstein Foundation Distinguished Lectureship, in recognition of his work in immunology, virology, and cancer research. Baltimore presented the lecture "MicroRNAs, Leukemia, and Hematopoietic Stem Cells Homeostasis" at the AACR Annual Meeting in April.

"Dr. Baltimore is one of the world's most influential molecular biologists," AACR Past-President Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, said in a news release. "His groundbreaking discoveries have had a profound influence on cancer research. His discovery of reverse transcriptase enabled the development of molecular biology techniques that are used by cancer researchers on a daily basis. He played a leading role in establishing the field of recombinant DNA research, which has been pivotal for the study and understanding of cancer biology, and in advancing biotechnology and its many applications to human disease."

DAVID BALTIMORE, PHD. DAVID BALTIMORE, PHD

Baltimore's work contributed to the use of gene therapy methods to treat not only cancer, but other diseases such as AIDS. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975 for his work on viral replication and his discovery of reverse transcriptase, which revolutionized molecular biology and has been essential to understanding the lifecycle of retroviruses such as HIV.

Richard M. Goldberg, MD, Physician-in-Chief at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, has been named recipient of the 2015 Bob Pinedo Cancer Care Prize by the Society for Translational Oncology. The award recognizes Goldberg's clinical and research leadership in the areas of gastrointestinal cancers, as well as his compassionate care of patients with cancer. The $50,000 prize was presented at the STO Fifth Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio, in April; and Goldberg delivered the keynote lecture.

Goldberg's clinical interests include colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers, carcinoid and GI tract neuroendocrine tumors, new drug development, and inherited predisposition to GI cancers. His research focuses on clinical studies in patients with GI cancers (principally colorectal), translational studies with laboratory collaborators on biologic specimens from patients with cancer, development of new cancer drugs and drug combinations, and clinical trials methodology.

RICHARD M. GOLDBERG, MD. RICHARD M. GOLDBERG, MD

Goldberg has led a national intergroup study N9741 as part of an international Phase III study of oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and fluorouracil in combinations for first-line treatment of advanced colorectal cancer, which resulted in approval of oxaliplatin for clinical use and has helped change the standard of care for patients with advanced colorectal cancer.

Stephen D. Nimer, MD, Director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has received the Dr. E. Donnall Thomas Award from the Bone Marrow Foundation. Nimer was recognized for his dedication to spending his career advancing the research and improving the lives of patients with cancer.

Nimer has expertise in treating patients with leukemia and lymphoma. He has conducted clinical and basic science research in the treatment and genetic basis of adult leukemia and bone marrow failure states, defining the regulatory mechanisms that control the production of blood cells and exploring ways to improve the treatment of blood-based cancers.

STEPHEN D. NIMER, MD. STEPHEN D. NIMER, MD

Robert A. Weinberg, PhD, Founding Member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, received the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation Lifetime Achievement in Science Award for his many contributions to cancer research-in particular his isolation of the first human cancer-causing gene, the ras oncogene, and the first known tumor-suppressor gene, Rb (the retinoblastoma gene). The award was presented at the SWCRF Scientific Breakthroughs 2015 Symposium in New York City in May.

Weinberg is also the Daniel K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research at MIT, and the first Director of the Ludwig Cancer Center there. He has authored or edited six books and more than 420 articles. He is an elected Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Member of the American Philosophical Society and the Institute of Medicine.

ROBERT A. WEINBERG, PHD. ROBERT A. WEINBERG, PHD

Also at the SWCRF Symposium, Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Irving Cancer Research Center at Columbia University and a staff cancer physician at Columbia University Medical Center, received the Distinguished Service Award for generating widespread public interest in cancer research through his book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, which inspired the recent PBS documentary "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies."

The Community Oncology Alliance has appointed two Community Oncology Pharmacy Association (COPA) co-chairs: Joshua Cox, PharmD, BCPS, Director of Pharmacy at Dayton Physicians Network in Ohio; and Thomas Harwood, CPT, Deputy Director of Clinical Operations at NSHOA Cancer Center in East Setauket, New York. The mission of the newly formed COPA is to establish quality standards, enhance information exchange, help advocate for the patient-centric model of integrated cancer care, and provide information, education, and resources.

SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE, MD, PHD. SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE, MD, PHD

"The specialized medications, especially those administered orally, used to treat cancer require a higher level of attention," Harwood said in a news release. "Practice-based pharmacies can provide that patient-centric care because patient records, physician, and pharmacy are all in one place, working together. COPA's role in standardization and benchmarking will aid in that coordination of care."

JOSHUA COX, PHARMD, BCPS. JOSHUA COX, PHARMD, BCPS

Cox and Harwood presided over the COPA meeting held during the COA Annual Conference in April. They are responsible for COPA administration and setting COPA strategic goals.

Children's Hospital of Wisconsin has opened its new MACC Fund Center Clinic and Northwestern Mutual Day Hospital in Milwaukee. The two new areas on the fifth floor of Children's Hospital include 18 exam rooms, a neuropsychiatric testing suite, an activities center, 14 private infusion suites, and a specialized chemotherapy pharmacy-all designed for the treatment of children with cancer and blood disorders.

The MACC Fund, Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer, Inc., supports translational research in the MACC Fund Center at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and scientific research at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the MACC Fund Research Center and at the University of Wisconsin's Carbone Cancer Center in the MACC Fund Childhood Cancer Research Wing of the Wisconsin Interdisciplinary Medical Research Center.

North Shore-LIJ Health System and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have signed an agreement to strategically align. The agreement includes a $120 million joint, long-term investment for the collaboration to be used to advance cancer therapeutics research, develop a new clinical research cancer research unit at North Shore-LIJ's Cancer Institute in Lake Success, New York to support early-phase clinical studies of new cancer therapies, and recruit and train more clinician-scientists in oncology.

"Bringing the scientists of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory together with the more than 200 academic oncologists and clinicians of the North Shore-LIJ Cancer Institute will transform our approach to cancer research and treatment throughout the New York area," North Shore-LIJ President and CEO Michael Dowling, said in a news release. "North Shore-LIJ oncologists will make CSHL's promising pre-clinical research available as innovative trials to select cancer patients at a much earlier stage."

North Shore-LIJ and CSHL will continue as independent organizations governed by their respective Boards of Trustees. The institutions have appointed a committee with responsibility for oversight, staffing and implementation of the affiliation that includes three representatives of CSHL: Bruce Stillman, PhD, President and CEO; David L. Spector, PhD, Director of Research; and David Tuveson, MD, PhD, Cancer Center Deputy Director; as well as three representatives of North Shore-LIJ: Lawrence G. Smith, MD, Physician-in-Chief; Kevin J. Tracey, MD, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research President and CEO; and Thomas McGinn, MD, Chair of Medicine.

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