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Dear Colleagues:

Our commitment to outstanding patient care is a fundamental pillar of Smilow Cancer Hospital and the Yale Cancer Center. In an effort to ensure that all patients are able to access the best medical care and critical supportive services, we have designed and are launching a patient navigation program. Navigation is a key evidence-based strategy that seeks to enhance patient-centered care. Navigation has been shown to increase a patient’s ability to have the support they need to access timely, quality care. At Smilow/YCC, we are committed to a comprehensive navigation strategy built on the best available clinical evidence. Although the full program will take time to build, we will launch the first phase in newly-diagnosed individuals with breast cancer on April 1. The rollout of this first phase will be aligned with the initiation of the Early Onset Program focused on our patients who are <45 years of age. As part of this early work, the navigation team will conduct rapid assessments using predefined performance indicators to guide dissemination of the best approach to navigation across the Smilow Network. The work is just beginning, but we have made a long-term commitment. As the months pass, we will provide frequent updates on our progress.

The launch of our new patient navigation approach has been a team effort. Much appreciation to all who have been involved, with particular thanks to Tracy Battaglia, Liz Wright, Kristina Capretti, Sonia Grizzle, Melissa Hughes, Angela Khairallah, and Nancy Borstelmann. I am personally grateful to the large team that has been meeting regularly, and I very much look forward to the success of this initiative.

Twelve Yale School of Medicine faculty, half of whom are members of the Yale Cancer Center (in bold), are among the 36 leading experts in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine recently elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE).

Chyrell Bellamy, MSW, PhD, professor of psychiatry

Keith Choate, MD, PhD, Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor and Chair of Dermatology (top left)

Charles Greer, PhD, professor of neurosurgery and of neuroscience

Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), (top middle)

Erica Herzog, MD, PhD, John Slade Ely Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary)

Naftali Kaminski, MD, Boehringer-Ingelheim Endowed Professor of Internal Medicine

Yuval Kluger, PhD, Anthony N. Brady Professor of Pathology (top right)

Chuan-Ju Liu, PhD, Charles W. Ohse Professor of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation

Walther Mothes, PhD, Paul B. Beeson Professor of Medicine (bottom left)

Carla Rothlin, PhD, Dorys McConnell Duberg Professor of Immunobiology (bottom middle)

John Tsang, PhD, MMath, professor of immunobiology (bottom right)

Hua Xu, PhD, Robert T. McCluskey Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science

Yale's Craig M. Crews, PhD, and an Amgen SVP Raymond J. Deshaies, PhD, have been named the recipients of the 2025 Passano Award. This prestigious award, presented for eight decades, honors work done in the United States that has demonstrated exceptional contributions to medical research and healthcare. They were honored for their collaborative work leading to a new class of drugs — the PROTAC concept — targeting protein degradation to treat human disease. Crews is the John C. Malone Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University and a member of the Yale Cancer Center. Deshais is Senior Vice-President of Global Research at Amgen. The announcement said: "The beauty of the PROTAC concept is that the drug can eliminate a protein that is producing an unwanted effect — for example, making a cell grow uncontrollably as cells do in a tumor. Drs. Crews and Deshais together showed that this approach could work, and they then co-founded a biotechnology company, Proteolix, to commercialize it. Today, many pharmaceutical companies have PROTAC programs, and the next decade is likely to see multiple PROTAC drugs enter clinical practice."

Smilow’s new Vice President for Patient Services Toby Bressler, PhD, RN, OCN, FAAN, was recently elected as the new Director at Large for the Oncology Nurses Society Board of Directors. The board governs ONS, and its 35,000 members. Board members serve three-year terms and meet monthly to guide the strategic direction of the organization. In describing Bressler and her new role, ONS said in a release that she has a reputation for her expertise in patient care, leadership, policy, and advocacy. “I look forward to contributing to ONS’s mission to promote excellence in oncology nursing practice, education, and research, and to advocating for the needs of oncology nurses as they continue to provide exceptional care to patients and families affected by cancer,” Bressler said. For more nursing news, go here.

Yale faculty members spoke at a two-day workshop exploring the impact of tobacco and alcohol use on cancer, which was held by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in mid-March in Washington, D.C. Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, Ensign Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology), served as co-chair of the workshop and panel moderator. Yale participants included Amy Justice, MD, PhD, C.N.H. Professor of Medicine (General Medicine); Hang Zhou, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry; and Ben Toll, PhD, adjunct professor in psychiatry.
PHOTO (from left): Co-chairs of the workshop, Dr. Herbst and S. Gail Eckhardt, Associate Dean for Experimental Therapeutics at Baylor College of Medicine.

Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) recently announced that it has become the first in New England, and only the fifth center in the United States, to use the Symani Surgical System robot designed to treat complex patient problems in the field of reconstructive surgery, lymphatic surgery, peripheral nerve repair and trauma. The ability to work with finer precision helps protect vessels, reduces trauma and reduces the risk of adverse events. “The field of microsurgery and supermicrosurgery continues to grow, expand and develop each day,” said Nita Ahuja, MD, chief of surgery-YNHH and chair of surgery-Yale School of Medicine. “The use of robotics is a key breakthrough. This will greatly enhance care for patients affected by trauma, cancer, congenital malformations and lymphedema.” For more, go here.

Recently, news of advances by Yale researchers reached well beyond campus with published breakthroughs in the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 (Nature Biomedical Engineering), new hope for a method of tracing signs of renewed cancer activity in blood from lung cancer patients (Nature Medicine), and an association between glioma risk and chemicals commonly used in firefighting (Cancer), to name a few. Other work published so far this month includes a study of inpatient palliative oncology consultation's impact on end of life care (Journal of Pain & Symptom Management) and a study of mediators of racial inequities in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Care (Cancer Medicine). For these and other publications, visit here.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation has three grants available, one with a deadline nearing in April.
• The Reach grant, with an April 10 deadline, supports important pre-clinical hypothesis-driven research projects that are necessary to move a study from the pre-clinical arena into a clinical trial. The grant goal is a phase I and/or II clinical trial, two to three years from the project end date. The award totals $250,000 in direct costs over two years. Grant information is here.

• The R Accelerator grant, with a June 5 deadline, funds scientists within 10 years of their faculty appointment at the assistant professor level and focused on research in pediatric oncology. Applicants must have an original project that is not currently being funded and with a clear focus on accelerating the discovery of more effective, less toxic therapy for childhood cancers. Applicants must be a first-time PI or co-PI of a pediatric cancer research-focused NIH R01 award or equivalent independent award. The award totals $800,000 over four years. Grant information here.

• The A Award grant, with a June 16 deadline, seeks game-changing proposals to substantially advance the development of childhood cancer treatments and cures. The 'A' Award is designed for early career scientists focused on pediatric oncology research and without NIH funding. The ideal candidate has an original project, can demonstrate outstanding career development support from their institution, and a strong future commitment to pediatric cancer investigation. A mentor and are career development plan are required. The award totals $800,000 over four years. Grant information here.

March 26 • noon • Smilow Town Hall • Zoom only

New clinical announcements; awards and accolades; and a Q & A. Presenters include Kevin Billingsley, MD, chief medical officer, YCC ; Toby Bressler, vice president for patient services; James Bhandary-Alexander, associate research scholar; and Hilary Axtmayer, chief program officer, Hole in the Wall Gang.

March 27 • noon • Cancer Prevention & Control Spring Seminar Series
"Roundtable Discussion on Patient-Reported Outcomes" with Laura Van Metre Baum, MD, MPH; Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH; Michael S. Leapman, MD, MHS; and Rozalyn Levine Rodwin, MD, MHS. Sterling Hall, Beaumont Room, 333 Cedar St., New Haven. Lunch.

March 28 • Anthony's Ocean View • 7 am to 3:30 pm

Highlights from the 2024 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. Hear the latest advances and research in hematology presented at the conference. For more go here.

March 28 • Tracy Battaglia, MD • NCCN Annual Conference • 10:55 am
“From Theory to Practice: Building Sustainable, High-Impact Patient Navigation Models." RSVP for in-person or virtual attendance: https://bit.ly/41lXFUN.

March 28-29 • 18th Annual New York GU Cancers Conference

The meeting is dedicated to addressing knowledge and competence gaps arising from the abundance of new data. It focuses on selecting treatments based on patient and tumor characteristics and applying these findings in clinical practice. YCC presenters include Daniel P. Petrylak, MD; Peter A Humphrey, MD, PhD; Isaac Y. Kim, MD, PhD, MBA; Leonard G. Gomella, MD, FACS; and Maha Hussein, MD, FACP, FASCO. Register here.

April 1 • Center for Community Engagement & Health Equity (CEHE) Seminar Series • 9 am

This seminar series introduces core principles of community engaged research relevant to cancer prevention, detection, treatment, or care. Presenting: Sakinah Carter Suttiratana, PhD, MPH, MBA, co-director, CEHE. Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Room 206/208, 295 Congress Ave., New Haven. Register here.

April 1 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares with Primary Care: Breast Cancer Screening • Zoom only

Presenters Jill Banatoski, MD; Alyssa Gillego, MD; and Mariya Rozenblit, MD. CME credit available. Registration not required.

April 1 • noon • YCC Grand Rounds

"Cancer Care Equity: Connecting Action, Research and Community" with Tracy Battaglia, MD, MPH, associate cancer center director, cancer care equity. Smilow Auditorium, 55 Park St., 2nd floor, New Haven. Due to recent policy changes, lunch will not be served. In person or Zoom.

April 3 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares • Zoom
Sarcoma CME Seminar with Hari Deshpande, MD; Igor Latich, MD; Francis Lee, MD, PhD; and Kelly Olino, MD, FACS. Register for webinar here.

April 7 • 5 pm • Realizing Academic Industrial Strategic Engagement (RAISE) for YSM faculty

RAISE panel on the topic of Open Science/Open Innovation platforms that pharmaceutical companies use to engage with academic researchers. One hour moderated panel discussion with pharma panelists from AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and Sanofi. First floor, 100 College St., New Haven. Register here.

April 8 • YCC Distinguished Lecture Series • Noon

"Two Genomes, One Balance: Mitochondrial and Nuclear DNA Stability" with Agnel Sfeir, PhD, PaineWebber Chair in Cancer Genetics at Sloan Kettering Institute, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Brady Auditorium in person or on Zoom. Due to recent policy changes, lunch will not be served.

April 11 & 29 • Head and Neck Cancer Screenings

A free, 5-minute check up from the neck up. Screenings are noon to 4 pm on April 11 in Yale New Haven Hospital, East Pavilion, Special Events Room, 20 York St., New Haven and on April 29 from 2 to 5 pm at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Greenwich Hospital, Noble Conference Room, 5 Perryridge Road, Greenwich. Register to reserve a time by calling 833-346-3637 or visit here and search on 'Head and Neck Cancer.'

April 15 • noon • YCC Grand Rounds, John Murren, MD, Memorial Lecture

"Lung Cancer Initiatives at Johnson & Johnson," presented by (retired) executive vice president of Johnson & Johnson William Hait, MD, PhD. Smilow Auditorium, 2nd floor, 55 Park St., New Haven. Due to recent policy changes, lunch will not be served. In person or on Zoom.

Direct Connect's 2024 newsletters can be found online under News at the Yale Cancer Center web site.