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The May issue of Connecticut Magazine’s “Top Doctors” issue lists 109 Yale Cancer Center (YCC) and Smilow Cancer Hospital (SCH) physicians, a 35% increase in “Top Doctors” for SCH and YCC from last year.

“We are honored that so many of our physicians have been recognized this year,” said Eric Winer, MD, director of Yale Cancer Center and president and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital. “Our overarching goals at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital are to provide the best cancer care that is available today and ensure that our treatments will improve in the future. And we are determined that everyone with cancer who walks through our doors or lives in our community has equal access to cancer care and to the advances provided by research.”

The magazine partnered with Castle Connolly, a leading national health care research firm, to compile the annual list. The award recognizes the top 7 percent of practicing physicians in the US. A total of 724-Yale New Haven Health-affiliated physicians made the list.

Pamela Kunz, MD, Associate Professor (Medical Oncology), Director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers at Yale/Smilow and Chief of GI Medical Oncology, was named a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. FASCO honors ASCO members for extraordinary volunteer service, commitment, and dedication. Dr. Kunz was one of 10 recipients nationwide to earn FASCO designation. She joins nine other YCC members with FASCO. More here

Abhijit Patel, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, has been appointed Medical Director in the Lawrence & Memorial Radiation Oncology Center in Waterford effective July 1.

Harriet Kluger, MD, is an At-Large candidate for the board of directors of the Society for Immunology of Cancer. Dr. Kluger is the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Medicine in Medical Oncology at YSM and a YCC member. She is an internationally recognized expert on advanced melanoma and renal cell carcinoma and is director of the Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer. Read her election platform statement and vote for her here.

Recently, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) named its five member board of directors for 2024-2027 including Katerina Politi, MD Professor of Pathology; Co-Leader, Cancer Signaling Networks, Yale Cancer Center; Scientific Director, Center for Thoracic Cancers.

In news from the Hem/Onc fellowship program, three fellows earned American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Awards—Rebecca Forman, MD; Yiduo Hu, MD, PhD; Tendai Kwaramba, MD, MSc. Also, the ASCO Education Scholars Program year-long program has selected Thejal Srikumar, MD.

Dr. Veda Giri recently has made invited speaker presentations in recent months, including the University of Washington-Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Prostate SPORE Speaker Series in February: Patient-Centered and Provider-Focused Approaches in the Evolving World of Germline Testing for Prostate Cancer; the
Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention and Centers for Early Detection and Interception at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Seminar Series in March: Patient-Centered and Provider-Focused Approaches in the Evolving World of Germline Testing for Prostate Cancer; and the ASPO Preconference Workshop also in March: Social Determinants of Health and Equity in Genetic Services: Risk-Informed Care.

• Stephanie Disco, an infusion nurse at Smilow Cancer Hospital in Guilford, was named a #SmilowStar in April. She had been caring for a young patient with metastatic cancer. During their clinic visit, the patient decided to enter hospice. It was a week after the patient’s 45th birthday, which had paased without much notice. Disco learned that the patient would have requested a 2-pound lobster dinner to celebrate and that’s just what she and other members of the Guilford team delivered that day before the patient left for hospice.

• The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) has named Laura Morrison, MD, associate professor of medicine (geriatrics) and director of hospice and palliative medicine education, as one of the most influential leaders in hospice and palliative care. It also has named Prasanna Ananth, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics, as an emerging leader in the field.

• Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center received an internationally recognized accreditation for cellular therapy and stem cell transplantation from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy. SCH is the first and only cancer hospital in Connecticut offering these therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy and tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy.

• The Commission on Cancer, which surveyed Bridgeport Hospital, summarized its finding, in part by complimenting the team: “The entire cancer committee is to be commended for their commitment and efforts... The cancer committee members work closely together with a patient-centric philosophy. Notable strengths of the program include a dedicated and motivated chair, a CLP who does a great job at looking at quality metrics and acting as the quality champion, a highly functioning genetic counseling program, and similiarly strong programs in survivorship, nutrition and rehabilitation services."

The new Assistant Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at YCC is Iris Isufi, MD, a hematologist who specializes in treating patients with lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and leukemia. She joins Associate Director for DEI Faye Rogers, PhD, Associate Professor of Therapeutic Radiology, who began in her DEI role i 2023.

Together Drs. Isufi and Rogers will continue YCC efforts to enhance a culture of belonging, including programs and training in cultural and structural humility, counteracting stigma and stereotypes, and gender discrimination.

Dr. Isufiis an associate professor of medicine (hematology) at the Yale School of Medicine, co-director of the Adult CAR T-cell Therapy Program, and co-leader of YCC Cellular Therapy Clinical Research Team.

Dr. Isufi was raised in Albania and sometimes accompanied her mother, a physician, on rounds at the hospital there. “I saw challenges they [the doctors] were facing in trying to help people. Their determination inspired me when I was young to become a physician,” Dr. Isufi has said. She is an expert in CAR T-cell therapy and was integral to the creation of the Yale/Smilow CAR T program beginning in 2018. She also runs clinical trials for patients with lymphoma.

Dr. Isufi has been at Yale School of Medicine since 2011 when she was a fellow. Prior to that she was a resident at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, having graduated with her medical degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2004.

• The Seventh Annual YCC Trainee Colloquium, planned for July 12, is accepting abstract submissions until June 11. At the forum Yale trainees can highlight their research, exchange ideas and collaborations. Applicants should be predoctoral MD, PhD, MD-PhD students, postdoctoral associates, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and clinical fellows engaging in cancer research. Online Registration and Abstract Submission. Questions? Email annabelle.blevinspifer@yale.edu or pamela.driscoll@yale.edu.

• Victoria’s Secret Global Fund for Women’s Cancer Career Development Awards, in Partnership with Pelotonia and the AACR is offering a two-year, $206,000 funding opportunity to female early-stage investigators researching breast and gynecologic cancers with a focus on prevention, detection, diagnostic, and treatment innovations and advancing outcomes for cancer health disparities. Deadline: May 15.

• National Comprehensive Cancer Network and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals are offering a new funding opportunity for quality improvement initiatives in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma. Deadline: June 5. Questions to zion@nccn.org subject “2024 NCCN AZ CLL/SLL RFP.”

• The K12 Calabresi Immuno-Oncology Training Program Scholar Award is for junior faculty to enhance research skills. Applicants should demonstrate a strong commitment to a career in cancer immunology. The two-year program includes didactic and practical training in basic, translational, and clinical aspects of cancer immunology research. Deadline: June 14 at 5 pm. More information and Instructions.

• The Leslie H. Warner Postdoctoral Fellowship for Cancer Research will support up to two promising early-stage trainees conducting innovative basic, translational, clinical, or population-based cancer research with a Yale Cancer Center member. Proposed research in YCC catchment area priorities (breast, lung, prostate and liver cancers) is encouraged. Fellowships provide $68,000 salary plus benefits. Deadline: June 2, 2024. Details.

• Yale Cancer Center announces a competition for predoctoral and postdoctoral Yale PhD and MD, PhD trainees to join the AstraZeneca (AZ) Mentorship Program. Ideal candidates will be nearing completion of cancer-related training. Program will provide mentees with mentoring, an overview of different industry career options, and facilitates the transition to the next career stage. Deadline: June 10, 2024. Details at InfoReady

YCC has a long history of exceptional, high-impact research in basic, translational, clinical, and population sciences published in numerous journals.

Most recently they have included Science Immunology, Viruses, Nature Metabolism, Trends in Cancer, Viruses, JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Leukemia & Lymphoma, JAMA Network Open, Nature Cell Biology and Lung Cancer Journal to name a few in which YCC members were published recently.

Catch up with the work of your colleagues here.