News | DirectConnect | 2011 | 2011-11-11

November 11, 2011

November 11, 2011

Announcements

Kapo to Lead Palliative Care

After an extensive search, I am happy to announce that Jennifer Kapo, MD will join Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven on April 1, 2012 as Chief of Palliative Medicine. Dr. Kapo will be an Associate Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics).

Jennifer joins us from the University of Pennsylvania where she is the medical director of the palliative care services at the Philadelphia Veteran's Administration Medical Center. I am confident that her leadership will expand our capacity to provide clinical palliative medicine to our patients. In addition, she will focus on developing a research mission in palliative medicine and expanding teaching opportunities for existing Yale faculty, staff, fellows, residents, and medical students. She has also been charged with creating an ACGME certified fellowship in hospice and palliative care.

Gift to Support BATTLE-2

I am excited to announce that the Diane and David B. Heller Foundation recently pledged $1 million over three years to fund Dr. Roy Herbst's innovative clinical study, BATTLE-2: A Personalized Biopsy-based Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Clinical Trial Applying Next-Generation Genomic Profiling. BATTLE-2 is a joint effort between Yale Cancer Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center to identify new targets and rational combinations of molecularly targeted therapies that will mitigate the effects of mutant KRAS in patients with NSCLC.

Mr. Heller, who lives and works in Chicago, is a grateful patient of Dr. Herbst. In addition to this gift, Mr. Heller made a $100,000 gift to help Dr. Herbst fund translational research projects at YCC earlier this year.

External Scientific Advisory Board Visit
I am pleased to welcome Yale Cancer Center's External Scientific Advisory Board to campus. We began our meeting last night at the Study Hotel with an overview of the Cancer Center and will continue our scientific and research program presentations today at the West Campus. A special thank you to the executive committee leaders and Chad Ellis, Hilary Prosnitz, and Christine Holmberg for the extensive planning and preparation they spent to ensure we have a successful meeting.

CT Challenge Survivorship Grants
We are pleased to announce that we have funding to support a third round of pilot grant funding for research in the area of cancer survivorship. Yale Cancer Center is soliciting applications for pilot grants that may provide preliminary data to support larger, national grants in survivorship research. Please note that survivorship pilot grant proposals can be submitted for both the regular YCC pilot grant program (due 11/10), as well as this specific pilot program. The application deadline is December 2, 2011. Please contact Susan Silvafor an application.

YCC and SCH Celebrate the Holidays
Please join the entire Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital communities as we celebrate the season together. We invite you and your family to join us at Yale's Peabody Museum in its Hall of Dinosaurs, on Thursday, December 15 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Come celebrate the holiday season with us and enjoy some food and drink, all while surrounded by one of the nation's finest collections of dinosaur fossils!

Stay for a few minutes or stay for a few hours. Bring your family. And watch out for a guest appearance from one of everyone's favorite holiday characters!

Support United Way
Yale Cancer Center is asking all employees to participate in the University's United Way campaign, "Give Every Child a Chance." I hope you will join me by making this year's campaign a tremendous success, either by making a new pledge or increasing your donation from last year. Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital employees can give through the following links:
Yale University >>
Yale-New Haven Hospital >> Log in to Employee Self Service

Notables

The American Cancer Society elected 11 new officers to its volunteer 2010-2011 National Board of Directors. Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD, the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, was elected First Vice President of the Board.

Learn More >>

Dan-Avi Landau, MD received an American Society of Hematology (ASH) Abstract Achievement Award for Abstract #284: Shifts in Intra-Clonal Dynamics Rather Than Novel Mutations Are the Main Engine Driving Tumor Evolution in Relapsed CLL. Dr. Landau's abstract will be presented at the ASH annual meeting in December.

Michael Hurwitz and Hari Deshpande are participating in Movember! For Movember, men start at the beginning of the month of November clean-shaven and grow mustaches to promote awareness of men's health and, specifically, of prostate cancer. Movember raises funds for the Livestrong Foundation and The Prostate Cancer Foundation. Please support their efforts through Team Smi-Mo.

Learn More >>

Ruth McCorkle, RN, PhD,

was awarded the 2011 American Cancer Society Trish Greene Quality of Life Award, a prestigious award honoring investigators in the field of quality of life research. Dr. McCorkle was chosen because of her involvement with clinical studies to relieve distressing symptoms associated with dying as well as her studies on managing life with cancer make her a pioneer in oncology nursing.

Development Update

Peter Roche, Dr. Roy Herbst, Barbara Kotler, and Marta Unker

LUNGevity Walk in Westport

Breathe Deep Westport was held on October 23rd at Sherwood Island State Park. The proceeds from the event benefitted the LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading private supporter of promising lung cancer research for the treatment and cure of lung cancer. Dr. Herbst was the featured speaker.

Marta is a long time Westport resident who battled lung cancer at age 49; she never smoked. After fighting cancer, Marta has been committed to raising awareness and promoting research for the future millions to face this disease.

November 12, 2011 | 9:00 AM - Noon

Smilow Cancer Hospital Auditorium

55 Park Street, New Haven

RSVP 888-700-6543 or online

Free Parking is available in the Air Rights Garage. Please bring your parking ticket with you to the event.

9:00 AM

Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:30 AM

Welcome and Introductions

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology

Innovation in Lung Cancer Treatment

Daniel Boffa, MD Assistant Professor of Thoracic Surgery

Smoking Cessation and Lung Cancer Prevention

Benjamin Toll, PhD Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Patient Testimonial

10:30 AM

Smoking Cessation Counseling and Free Nicotine Patch Medications Distributed

*Participants may be eligible for a free 2-week starter package of nicotine patch medication. You will be screened and asked to sign a consent form to assess eligibility. This promotion is available to the first 200 event participants who register.

Employee Profile:

Joe Ford

The Employee Profile recognizes the diverse contributions made by Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital staff have to meet our patient care, research, education, and outreach goals. The staff profiled are examples of the great work being done here, and the dedication and values we possess. To suggest someone to be profiled, please contact Emily Fenton.

Joe Ford with Kathy Waldron

Joe Ford's job as a Radiation Therapy Tech in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital brings him into contact with many different people on a daily basis. He interacts with patients and their families, nurses, therapists, and physicians, all in an effort to make each patient's visit as stress-free as possible.

Joe's main role is working side by side with the Radiation Therapist.

As part of that team he helps in setting up the treatment room for patients, welcomes them and brings them to their room. He also welcomes other patients that he may not be treating on his machine that day. He is considered an Ambassador for the Radiation Therapy Department and is there to help patients with whatever they may need.

"Sometimes they just need someone to talk to, and I am there to help ease their anxiety, provide conversation or a laugh.

Sometimes they have questions or need a referral to a social worker, and I am there to help with that as well," said Joe. "I am a champion for the patients, whatever they might need I try to help them with it."

Having been at Yale for 23 years, Joe has gotten to know a lot of the staff and knows all of his patients by name, and their families. He gives as much to his job as he can. Joe explained that he loves working with the patients and the radiation oncology team as well, "I am proud to be a part of such a stellar group of people, not only in my department, but at Smilow as a whole. It is truly a privilege and an honor."

Denise Armstrong, Oncology Social Worker for the Department, commented, "The patients look forward to seeing Joe. He makes them feel comfortable and relaxed, which is very important before they get their daily treatments. He is really one of a kind and we are lucky to have him here at Smilow."

Funding Opportunities

Stand Up To Cancer and the Prostate Cancer Foundation Announce Prostate Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Grant Program

The SU2C-PCF Prostate Dream Team Translational Cancer Research Grant will provide funding of

up to $10 million over a three-year period for a cancer research project that will address therapeutic interventions for advanced prostate cancer (with a special emphasis on metastatic disease) and deliver near-term patient benefit through investigation by a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, synergistic team of expert investigators. Proposals must include plans indicating how the work will be translated to a clinic setting.

Letter of Intent Deadline: November 28, 2011

Learn More >>

AACI Translational Research Fellowship

This $50,000 one-year non-renewable grant will support post-doctoral training to individuals who have completed at least one year of training in any field of oncology and have at least one year of training remaining at an AACI member institution. This funding opportunity is open exclusively to AACI member institutions and promises to be highly competitive.

Application Deadline: February 1, 2012

Learn More >>

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

The Pathway to Leadership Grant is designed to develop future leadership in the field of pancreatic cancer research. The early phase of the grant is intended to ensure a strong environment of mentorship and development for the postdoctoral scientist (first two years of funded period), while the later phase emphasizes further development of research ideas in an independent (tenure-track) position.

Application Deadline: November 29, 2011

Learn More >>

Lymphatic Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

The foundation's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program is designed to support postdoctoral scientists at academic, medical, or research institutions throughout the world. The awards will support investigators who have recently received their doctorates. The goal of the fellowship program is to expand and strengthen the pool of outstanding junior investigators in the field of lymphatic research.

Projects in lymphocyte biology, leukemia, lymphoma, and conditions secondary to lymphedema such as cutaneous infections are outside the scope of this program.

Applicants must hold a PhD and/or MD or equivalent degree and have completed no more than three years of full-time postdoctoral research experience prior to the start of the grant cycle. The research project must be conducted under the supervision of a mentor who is an established investigator with an active and productive research program. The two-year fellowships provide $82,000 to $95,000 each.

Application Deadline: January 10, 2012

Recent Publications

Opinion: A personal note-40 years after the signing of the Cancer Act.

Devita VT Jr.
Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2011 Nov 1. doi: 10.1038/nrclinonc.2011.168.

Read More >>

Barriers to Meditation by Gender and Age Among Cancer Family Caregivers.

Williams AL, Ness PV, Dixon J, McCorkle R.

Nurs Res. 2011 Nov 1. [

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November 11, 2011