Florida Surgeon Elected Chair of ACS Board of Regents
Nationally recognized cancer surgeon, Michael J. Zinner, MD, FACS, Coral Gables, Fla., was elected Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during the college's annual Clinical Congress.
Zinner is a general surgeon with expertise in pancreatic-hepatobiliary diseases. Since 2016, he has been the founding Chief Executive Officer and Executive Medical Director of the Miami Cancer Institute-Baptist Health South Florida. Prior to that time, he practiced in Boston where he served as Surgeon-in-Chief and Moseley Professor of Surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. During this time, Zinner also served as Clinical Director and Chief of Surgical Services at the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center.
In his role as Chair of the Board of Regents, Zinner will work closely with the ACS Executive Director and will chair the Regents' Finance and Executive Committees. The college's 24-member Board of Regents formulates policy and is ultimately responsible for managing the affairs of the college. The board's diversity and variety of experiences and interests among its members enable the Regents to represent views related to myriad issues in contemporary surgery.
A fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 1983, Zinner has previously served as Vice-Chair of the ACS Board of Regents and Chair of the ACS Board of Governors.
Zinner also has served as Chair of the American Board of Surgery, Chair of the American Surgical Association, President of the Society of Surgical Chairs, President of the Halsted Society, and President of the New England Surgical Society.
As the author of more than 230 academic articles in the scientific literature, Zinner brings his expertise to the editorial boards of several surgery journals including the of Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Annals of Surgery, and Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery.
Throughout his career, Zinner has served as the principal investigator of a number of funded projects, many of which focus on researching various aspects of gastrointestinal disease or investigating ways to improve care of critically ill patients in the surgical ICU.
He has received numerous awards and accolades for his devotion to teaching and mentoring students, surgical residents, and research colleagues, and has been recognized by Harvard Medical School and the Association of Women Surgeons for his advocacy role in the advancement of women in medicine.
AACR Recognizes Significant Contributions to Breast Cancer Research
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) honored two researchers for their work in breast cancer at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).
Fergus J. Couch, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., received the 9th annual AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research, funded by Susan G. Komen, and Max S. Wicha, MD, of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, was awarded the 9th annual AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research.
The AACR Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research recognizes an investigator of no more than 50 years of age whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of breast cancer. Such work may involve any discipline across the continuum of biomedical research, including basic, translational, clinical, and epidemiological studies.
Couch, who is the Zbigniew and Anna M. Scheller Professor of Medical Research, and Chair of the Division of Experimental Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the Mayo Clinic, is being honored for his seminal work in identifying the inherited genes and mutations that predispose to breast cancer. Much of his research has focused on determining the clinical relevance of inherited variants of uncertain significance in breast cancer predisposition genes using genetic epidemiology and molecular biology approaches.
Couch presented his Outstanding Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research lecture, "Decoding Breast Cancer Predisposition Genes," at SABCS 2016.
A distinguished national leader in cancer genetics, Couch is a founder and member of the Evidence-based Network for the Interpretation of Germline Mutant Alleles (ENIGMA) consortium, and a leader in the BRCA Challenge and the Prospective Registry of Multiplex Testing (PROMPT) initiatives aimed at understanding alterations in cancer predisposition genes. He is also a co-founder of the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 and a Triple Negative Breast Cancer Consortium, and is a long-term member of the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Working with members of these consortia, Couch has led genome-wide association studies to identify common genetic variants that influence risk of ER negative and triple negative breast cancer and modify risks of breast cancer among carriers of germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.
In more recent research, Couch has been working to estimate risks of breast cancer associated with pathogenic variants identified by clinical genetic testing using multigene panels, and is leading an effort to identify genetic factors that account for the missing heritability of breast cancer.
The AACR Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research was established to recognize outstanding science that has inspired or has the potential to inspire new perspectives on the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of breast cancer.
Wicha, Director Emeritus of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, is being recognized for his leadership in breast cancer research and as a pioneer in the field of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Wicha is among the most highly cited investigators in the field. His group was part of the team that first identified CSCs in human breast cancers, the first in any solid tumor. His laboratory has developed many of the techniques and assays used to study these cells and to elucidate the pathways which regulate their behavior. These pathways have provided targets for the development of drugs aimed at targeting CSCs.
He gave his Distinguished Lectureship in Breast Cancer Research award lecture, "Targeting Breast Cancer Stem Cells: Challenges and Opportunities," at SABCS 2016.
Wicha is co-founder of OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, a company focused on developing CSC therapeutics, which has produced five agents currently in clinical testing. After training at the NCI in clinical oncology and cancer biology, Wicha joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 1980, where he served as chief in the Division of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine. He served as Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center since its inception in 1986 until 2015, when he became Director Emeritus. He remains an active clinician, specializing in the treatment of patients with breast cancer.
Yale University Professor Honored for Lifetime Achievement
Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Professor, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., was recognized by The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) with a Distinguished Award at the IASLC 17th World Conference on Lung Cancer in Vienna, Austria. Herbst accepted the Paul A. Bunn Jr. Scientific Award, in honor of his scientific contributions to thoracic cancer research during the Opening Plenary Session.
Herbst is the ensign Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Chief of Medical Oncology, Director of the Thoracic Oncology Research Program, and Associate Director for Translational Research at the Yale Cancer Center and Yale School of Medicine.
Herbst's efforts over the past several decades have included bringing targeted agents to clinical trials and ultimately FDA approval, and leading clinical trials to said agents in advanced stage cancers.
"Dr. Herbst has committed his entire career to advancements in lung cancer research," said Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and School of Medicine, and CEO of the IASLC. "The IASLC is very proud to honor Dr. Herbst for his very significant contributions, which already have helped many lung cancer patients. He has made a tremendous impact across the globe and we are confident his quality work will continue to be crucial in the fight against lung cancer."
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Names Deputy Director of Cancer Institute
Pediatric hematologist/oncologist Peter Shaw, MD, joined Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital as Deputy Director of the Johns Hopkins All Children's Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute and Associate Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Shaw will work collaboratively with the entire hematology/oncology team and other pediatric specialists at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital to provide comprehensive care and the best possible outcomes for children, teens, and young adults with cancer. He will expand the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) oncology program and enhance continuity of care into adulthood through multidisciplinary collaboration with physicians at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. He also will support the institute's fertility preservation program, which helps pediatric cancer and bone marrow transplant survivors enjoy optimal health and the opportunity to become parents in their adult years.
Shaw previously was the Clinical Director of Oncology and Director of the Hematology/ Oncology clinic at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he established one of the nation's first AYA oncology programs, providing specialized care for oncology patients ages 15 to 22 from throughout Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia. Working with faculty at Magee Women's Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh, he was a founder of the Fertility in Oncology program to help provide greater fertility preservation options for patients undergoing cancer treatment or a bone marrow transplant.
He is a founding member of the Consortium of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Centers and helped develop internationally recognized clinical standards for the care of adolescents and young adults with cancer. Over the past decade, he has held several roles within the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance, which became the Critical Mass Young Adult Alliance in 2012.
"Dr. Shaw's leadership and compassionate care will enhance our program and help us make cures achievable as the Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute continues to evolve as a national leader in treating childhood cancer and achieving the best possible outcomes," said Jonathan Ellen, MD, President and Physician-in-Chief, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital and Vice Dean and Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "His expertise in adolescent and young adult oncology will help our patients enter their adult years in optimal health and armed with knowledge and support to thrive in adulthood. Dr. Shaw will also help me with recruitment of clinicians, scientists and the eventual director of the Cancer & Blood Disorders Institute."
Moffitt CEO Recognized for Contributions to Field of Hematology
Moffitt Cancer Center President and CEO Alan F. List, MD, has been awarded the Celgene 2016 Career Achievement Award for Clinical Research in Hematology.
The award recognizes List for his tremendous impact and significant contributions in the field of clinical hematology throughout his career. The Celgene Corporation will provide a $25,000 grant to Moffitt in List's name in honor of the award. Moffitt medical oncologist Eric Padron, MD, nominated List for the award.
"I am honored to accept this award, especially in Moffitt's 30th anniversary year," said List. "It has been inspiring to work at an institution that places such a high value on collaboration. This award really reflects a team of people who are truly driven to find a cure for cancer."
List holds several positions at Moffitt. Other than serving as President and CEO, he is a member of the Department of Malignant Hematology and the Experimental Therapeutics Program and a Professor of Internal Medicine and Oncology at the University of South Florida. List and his research team have contributed to understanding the biology of acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes to develop more effective treatment strategies and are nationally recognized for their efforts.
Inova Center for Drug Discovery & Development Names Director
Milton L. Brown, MD, PhD, has joined Inova where he will serve as Director of the new Inova Center for Drug Discovery and Development and as Deputy Director for Drug Discovery for the Inova Schar Cancer Institute.
Brown is a physician scientist who has expertise in the design, synthesis, and evaluation of new drugs and is one of only a handful of physician scientists in the U.S. who hold a PhD in synthetic chemistry and an MD. He comes to Inova from Georgetown University Medical Center where he was founding Director of the Drug Discovery Program.
He will bring his team of more than 20 scientists including research instructors, post-docs, technicians, graduate students, and research assistant professors to Inova. The disciplines covered by these individuals include synthetic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, cancer biology, ADME toxicity specialization, animal pathology, and spectroscopy. This team will have a strong focus on cancer drug development and getting new therapies into clinical practice more quickly where they can benefit the most patients.
Brown will work closely with Inova investigators, university partners, and regional and national biotechnology and pharmaceutical collaborators to ensure that Inova delivers the highest quality and value in clinical therapeutics science. The goal is to incorporate this science into patient care throughout the Inova health system.
He was on the faculty at the University of Virginia from 2000 through 2006, when he accepted the position as the founding director of the Drug Discovery Program at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He was appointed as the Edwin H. Richard and Elisabeth Richard von Matsch Endowed Chair in Experimental Therapeutics, tenured associate professor in the Department of Oncology, and Associate Director for the Experimental Therapeutics program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Brown was appointed to a 4-year term by the U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services to serve as a scientific counselor on the National Toxicology Program Board. He has also served as a scientific reviewer of grants and programs for the National Institutes of Health, NCI Cancer Center Support Grants, Department of Defense, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Share Your News!
Send information and photos for this column to mailto:[email protected]