American College of Radiology Announces 2023 Honorees
The American College of Radiology (ACR) Board of Chancellors named three Gold Medalists, one Honorary Fellowship recipient and a Distinguished Achievement Awardee in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to the field of radiology and outstanding service to the ACR. Honorees will be recognized during the ACR 2023 Annual Meeting. The following individuals will receive the ACR Gold Medal:
* Edward I. Bluth, MD, FACR, is Chair Emeritus of the Department of Radiology at Ochsner Health System in New Orleans. He previously served on the ACR Board of Chancellors, where he chaired the Commission on Human Resources and the Governance Committee. He also served as an ACR delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates.
* James A. Brink, MD, FACR, is the Juan M. Taveras Professor of Radiology at the Harvard Medical School in Boston. He is a Past Chair of the ACR Board of Chancellors, on which he also served as the Chair of the Commission for Body Imaging, as well as serving as ACR president.
* Carolyn Cidis Meltzer, MD, FACR, is Dean of the Keck School of Medicine and Professor of Radiology at the University of Southern California. She is a member and past chair of the ACR Commission on Research, as well as past member of the ACR Board of Chancellors and past Chair of the ACR Commission on Neuroradiology.
Richard Potter, MD, of Vienna, Austria, will receive an ACR Honorary Fellowship. He is a Professor (emeritus) and Chairman (retired) in the Department of Radiation Oncology, having served at the Medical University Vienna General Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was Clinical Editor in Radiotherapy and Oncology from 2005 to 2014 and is Past-President of GEC-ESTRO.
The ACR Distinguished Achievement Awardee is Robert J. Achermann, JD, who has served as the Executive Director of the California Radiological Society for much of his nearly 40-year career. He has worked side by side with the state society leadership successfully championing difficult policy issues in diverse areas of healthcare, including occupational licensing and medical malpractice reform and has advised multiple ACR Board chairs throughout his career.
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center Appoints Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD Associate Director for Basic Research
Alessandro Fatatis, MD, PhD, was named Associate Director for Basic Research at Jefferson Health's Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC). He previously served as co-leader for SKCC's Translational and Cellular Oncology Research Program and is Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine. SKCC is a National Cancer Research (NCI)-recognized consortium cancer center with Drexel University.
As Associate Director for Basic Research, Fatatis will be responsible for coordinating all cancer-focused basic research at SKCC and aligning these efforts with strategic priorities. He will advance collaborative basic research across the cancer center's Translational and Cellular Oncology, Immune Cell Regulation and Targeting, and Molecular Oncology Regulation and Approaches Research Programs and promote strong partnerships with the population science-oriented members in the Cancer Research and Control Program.
Additionally, he will work closely with Wm. Kevin Kelly, DO, Associate Director for Clinical Research, to link bench-to-bedside research through the multidisciplinary disease groups, and Amy Leader, DrPH, MPH, Associate Director for Community Integration, to develop research to address the health issues unique to the catchment area. Fatatis succeeds Andrew Aplin, PhD, who held the role until his appointment to SKCC Deputy Director last year.
"I am very excited to assume this role and continue my work with an exceptional team of scientists, clinicians, and health care providers," Fatatis said. "I am also fully committed to join the efforts of SKCC leadership toward the eradication of cancer, focusing on the specific needs of our catchment area and in consultation with patient advocates and local community leaders."
Fatatis is a recognized expert of metastasis and his research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating the metastatic potential of solid tumors and identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets to treat metastatic disease. He is currently PI of an NCI-funded R01 grant to study interleukin-1[beta] and AR-negative tumor cells in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer, and Co-PI on a SKCC-Drexel Consortium Collaborative Grant that is examining the atomic structure of the small-molecule antagonist FX-68 bound to CX3CR1 reconstituted in lipid nanodiscs. He is also PI on an R01 multi-PI grant investigating the role of CX3CR1 in breast cancer metastasis.
"Dr. Fatatis is an impactful scientist and leader who will expertly guide basic scientific research efforts at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center and promote collaboration across our four research programs, which will enable us to translate our scientific discoveries to more effectively treat, detect, and prevent cancer in our communities," said Andrew Chapman, DO, SKCC Director and Executive VP of Oncology Services at Jefferson Health.
Fatatis previously served as Co-Director of the Prostate Cancer Working Group of Greater Philadelphia and is currently Chair of the Admission and Steering Committee of the Diversity in Drug Discovery and Development Fellowship. Additionally, he has served as a peer reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Defense.
His honors and awards include 2016 SKCC Director's Award for Outstanding Member, the 2016 Mentoring Award from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Professional Studies at Drexel University, the 2006 Young Scientist Award from Drexel University College of Medicine, and the 1999 Award Biagio Lo Scalzo for Distinguished Pharmacological Research from the Italian Society of Pharmacology. He is also Chair of the Steering Committee for Prostate Cancer Discovery and Development Program Inter-Institutional Award at the Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.
Fatatis received his medical and doctoral degrees from the University of Naples in Italy, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship, and was a Fogarty Fellow in the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurophysiology in the NIH's National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Prior to joining Drexel in 2000, he served as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Chicago.
New Walther Chair in Supportive Oncology to Focus on Music Therapy
Indiana University School of Medicine has named Sheri Robb, PhD, a Walther Professor of Supportive Oncology. This is one of five endowed positions to develop a supportive oncology program that encompasses research and patient care.
Robb is a nationally renowned music therapy researcher, a professor at the IU School of Nursing, and an Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher. Her research focuses on supportive care needs of children and adolescents with cancer and their families. She has held 15 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health for her work to develop and test music-based interventions to reduce symptom distress and improve health outcomes.
"My motivation for becoming a research scientist was to advance research in the emerging field of music therapy-to better understand how and for whom specific interventions work and to increase access to those services," Robb said. "As a Walther Professor of Supportive Oncology, I will have the opportunity to accelerate and advance research in music and health in exponential ways, with the goal of creating evidence-based and culturally meaningful programs of care to improve the health and well-being of all patients with cancer and their families."
The Walther Professor of Supportive Oncology was established by the transformative $14 million gift to IU School of Medicine from the Walther Cancer Foundation. In April, Shelley Johns, PsyD, ABPP, was named the Walther Scholar in Psycho-Oncology.
Supportive oncology goes beyond standard therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and seeks to care for a patient's overall physical, mental and spiritual well-being. The supportive oncology program intends to influence care for cancer patients and their families throughout Indiana and the country by providing expertise and best practices for other health systems to model, with particular attention to the underserved.
"Supportive oncology is a broad umbrella for care directed toward the patient and not just the cancer. Advancing the research and provision of music therapy for patients at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center provides a unique opportunity for Hoosiers living with cancer," said James Cleary, MD, Professor of Medicine and Walther Senior Chair in Supportive Oncology at IU School of Medicine.
Robb currently holds a $2 million NIH grant to lead a study on how music and play interventions can reduce stress, improve survivorship, and boost the immune system in children ages 3-8 during cancer treatments. Because child and parent distress are interrelated, researchers are aiming to reduce stress levels in both the patient and caregivers.
As a national leader in music therapy, Robb is part of the NIH and National Endowment for the Art's Sound Health Network multidisciplinary team to advance research in music and health. She is also working with a group of investigators to improve reporting quality and rigor of music intervention research.
"Dr. Robb's impact on patients and their families is remarkable. She has a gift for translating research into diverse, patient-centered programs that make the journey through cancer diagnosis and treatment more bearable. She is an asset to our team of nurse researchers studying oncology," said Robin Newhouse, PhD, Dean of IU School of Nursing.
Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, to join MD Anderson as Vice President for Research
Eyal Gottlieb, PhD, has been named Vice President for Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. As an accomplished scientist and leader, he will join the organization in January to uphold and expand the institution's research excellence.
In this role, Gottlieb will oversee laboratory science departments leading innovative discovery and translational research across a variety of disciplines. He will work closely with Giulio Draetta, MD, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, and with others across MD Anderson to implement the scientific research strategy for the institution. He also will provide leadership to ensure research integrity across all areas and to lead scientific recruitment efforts, with an emphasis on attracting top-tier scientists from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise.
"We enthusiastically welcome Dr. Gottlieb to the MD Anderson research community, and we look forward to his leadership as we continue to conduct the best science possible in pursuit of our mission to end cancer," Draetta said. "Eyal is a tremendous scientist and a leader who exemplifies our core values, and I am confident his collaborative efforts will guide us toward an exciting future."
Gottlieb received his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago. He was a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Special Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He started his independent research career at Cancer Research UK's Beatson Institute in Glasgow, Scotland, where he established and directed the Cancer Metabolism Research Unit.
In 2016, he was appointed the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Chair of Cancer Research at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Since 2020, Gottlieb has served as Director of the Rappaport Institute for Biomedical Research and Vice Dean of Research for the Technion Faculty of Medicine.
In his research, Gottlieb uses interdisciplinary methods that combine molecular and cellular biology, genetics, and analytical chemistry to investigate metabolic roles in diseases and find new clinical approaches. Among his key accomplishments are the identification of onco-metabolic signaling pathways and the elucidation of adaptations to stressful environments and to the loss of the tumor suppressors fumarate hydratase and succinate dehydrogenase.
"MD Anderson is world-renowned as a leader in cancer research, and I am proud to join such a stellar community of scientists and physicians working toward a shared goal," Gottlieb said. "By working collaboratively across disciplines and making the best use of our significant resources, we will continue to drive breakthroughs across the spectrum of cancer science for the benefit of patients."