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The National Cancer Institute recently reaffirmed Yale Cancer Center as a comprehensive cancer center, a designation YCC has continuously held since becoming one of the first in the nation in 1974.

“We are proud of the outstanding care we have provided to our patients as an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center over the past 50 years,” said Dr. Eric Winer, director of the Yale Cancer Center and president and physician-in-chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital.

“NCI’s renewal of our five-year grant and continued designation as one of only 57 comprehensive cancer centers in the country is the highest endorsement of the extraordinary work of all of our physicians, scientists, and staff who work tirelessly to provide the very best cancer care and research here in the state of Connecticut,” Winer said.

The redesignation follows a rigorous, year-long review by the NCI. Being recognized as a comprehensive cancer center is the institute’s most prestigious designation. YCC is the only such center in Connecticut.

“Continued designation of the Yale Cancer Center as an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center recognizes the leadership of our cancer experts who are working hard every day to advance medicine and discover new treatments, while providing exceptional and compassionate treatment to each patient together with the exceptional team at Smilow Cancer Hospital,” said Dr. Nancy J. Brown, dean of Yale School of Medicine.

1. The annual Metastatic Breast Cancer Symposium included a full house of breast cancer experts, patients, caregivers and supporters recently. It was hosted at Yale's Greenberg Center, by Sandy Cassanelli (at podium) founder, Breast Cancer Fund and Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Breast Cancer, Smilow Cancer Hospital and YCC. The day included remarks and breakout sessions from YCC Director and Smilow president and physician-in-chief, Eric Winer, MD, as well as Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil; Mariya Rozenblit, MD; Sarah Elizabeth Schellhorn, MD; Adriana Matutino Kahn, MD; Melinda Irwin, PhD, MPH; Maura Harrigan, MS, RDN, CSO; Nancy Borstelmann, PhD, MPH, LCSW; and Tara Sanft, MD.

2. Two employees at the Breast Cancer Center at YNHH-Bridgeport Hospital received the PEACE award recently. The Patient Experience Award for Caring and Excellence (PEACE) went to Louisa Correll (left) and Patricia Poniros for their accountability, compassion, integrity, and patient-centered care of a woman who had an office visit through the early detection program for the uninsured. The patient's visit in August revealed swollen lymph nodes and breast lumps. Ms. Correll, a health systems navigator who reviews the enrollment forms and visit notes, noticed that followup imaging had been scheduled for six months later, in January, despite the symptoms. She contacted Ms. Poniros—a registered nurse coordinator and the breast and cervical program RN for the breast center—who got the patient in for imaging that week. Following imaging, the patient was scheduled for a biopsy thanks to their vigilance.

3. The Smilow Cancer Hospital Sickle Cell team, Sickle Cell Strides 4 Cure, had great participation at the 33rd Annual Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. Michelle’s House Southern CT Walk/Run/Bike in early October.

4. YCC physicians and trainees attended the 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting two weeks ago to present clinical and research advances from Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital. They participated in more than two dozen presentations at the meeting. Attendees included David J. Carlson, PhD, DABR, FASTRO, FAAPM; Huixiao Chen, PhD, DABR; Emily Draeger, PhD, DABR; Kevin Du, MD, PhD; Suzanne B. Evans, MD, MPH, FASTRO; Daniel Hicks, MD; Christin A. Knowlton, MD, MA; Victor Lee, MD; Nicholas Moore, MD; James Ninia, MD; Patrick Oh, MD; Kenneth B. Roberts, MD; Timothy Robinson, MD, PhD; Melissa Rasar Young, MD, PhD; and Weili Zhong.

Two Yale Cancer Center members were among six Yale researchers awarded prestigious National Institutes of Health grants for their exceptional and creative research with the potential to transform biomedical science. Salil Garg, MD, PhD and Xialolei Su, PhD are among 67 recipients recognized by NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward (HRHR) Research program, which supports “visionary and broadly impactful” behavioral and biomedical research projects. Dr. Garg, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine at YSM, received a New Innovator Award, which support “unusually innovative research” from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received a large NIH grant. Dr. Su, an associate professor of cell biology at YSM, received a Transformative Research Award for a collaborative research project with Julien Berro, PhD, an associate professor of cell biology at YSM and of molecular biophysics and biochemistry in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Jonathan A. Green from Boston University.

Yale Palliative Care Program team members Trinh Bui, PharmD and Leah Tenebaum, DMin, BCC have been selected to attend the two-day Interprofessional Train-the-Trainer Spiritual Care Education Curriculum (ISPEC) Course at George Washington University. The program helps clinicians, spiritual care professionals, and others working in health settings to recognize, address, and attend to the suffering and spiritual health of patients and their families.

David Braun, MD, PhD, assistant professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and a member of the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology at YCC, will receive the Christopher G. Wood Rising Star Award by the Kidney Cancer Association at the 2024 International Kidney Cancer Symposium next month in Louisville.

Kurt A. Schalper, MD, PhD, received the 18th annual Michaele C. Christian Oncology Development Award at this year’s NCI's Early Drug Development Meeting in September. He is an associate professor of medicine at YSM and director of the Translational Immuno-oncology Laboratory, YCC.

Hari A. Deshpande, MD associate professor of medicine at YSM and Clinical Research Team Leader Sarcoma, recently moderated a session on biomarkers in sarcoma at an event in Boston, sponsored by the American Journal of Managed Care.

YSM Department of Surgery appointed Paris Butler, MD, MPH, FACS as the new Vice Chair of Education and Inclusive Excellence to provide strategic oversight of the department’s five ACGME-accredited residency programs, fellowships, and the clerkship program. Dr. Butler succeeds Mehra Golshan, MD, MBA, who served as Interim Vice Chair of Education for over two years. In future, Dr. Golshan will refocus on his duties as Executive Vice Chair of Operations and as Deputy Chief Medical Officer for YCC.

Welcome to Yuenan (Nancy) Wang, PhD, as a new member of our Radiobiology and Genome Integrity Research Program. Dr. Wang is a Clinical Medical Physicist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Therapeutic Radiology.

The Lion Heart Foundation celebrated 18 years of making a difference through breast cancer research funding with a final walk and dinner that the foundation's leader Kathleen van Rijn described as " a joyous, loving and amazing gathering of Lion Heart donors, researchers, and friends. In spite of the rain (we all look a bit waterlogged) it was a perfect day and evening," in a note to donors.

Lion Heart was founded after van Rijn's 2006 breast cancer diagnosis, when her five sisters suggested the first walk in NYC. A team was created and the walks continued when Lion Heart established its relationship with Yale Cancer Center and the Center for Breast Cancer.

In its nearly two decades of fundraising, the foundation has raised more than $1.6 million and 100% of it was donated to YCC and Smilow Cancer Hospital for research. In addition to the walk, donations have been raised by dozens of high school and university swim teams in New York and Connecticut. In 2024, so far, the top 10 (of 30) fundraising teams are Fairfield Prep Swim & Dive 2024; Jonathan Law Girls Swimming & Diving '24; Fordham Swim and Dive 2024; Foran HS (Milford) Girls Swim/Dive; Sister Act; 2024 Daniel Hand HS (Madison) Girls SWIVE; Milford Swimming & Diving; 2024 (Daniel) Hand, Branford & Old Saybrook Boys Swim; 2024 Xavier HS Swimming; and Notre Dame HS West Haven Swim and Dive. Donations are being accepted through the third week in December to fund researchers in 2025.

As shown (see photo above) the walk in New York City's Central Park was well attended by local and regional donors from as far away as Virginia and many Fordham University Swim and Dive team members. YCC representation included this year's Lion Heart awardees Xiaolei Su, PhD (Cell Biology) of the Cancer Immunology research team, Andrew Xiao, PhD (Genetics), Genetics, Genomics & Epigenetics Research team (GGE); and Pohan Chen, MD, PhD (Pathology). Also there were former YCC grant awardees Rachel Perry, PhD (Endocrinology, and Cellular and Molecular Physiology) with Ngozi Akingbesote from her lab; Arnaud Augert, PhD (Pathology and GGE research team) with Madison Murphy and Yongli Qi from his lab; Qin Yan, PhD (GGE, Pathology, Lion Heart Advisory Committee); and David Stern, PhD (of the Cancer Signaling Networks Research Team and Pathology), also chair of the Lion Heart Advisory Committee.

Breast cancer awareness month means splashes of pink on products in the grocery store, on our commercials, and even on our sports team. It also means useful reminders about the importance of screening and reports on detection, new treatments and more.

Smilow and Yale contributors include a WTNH report on the role AI could play in detecting breast cancer, as explained by radiology and bioinformatics specialists Drs. Kiran Sheikh, and Sanjay Aneja. The same report appeared on Yahoo and NewsNation and earlier Dr. Sheikh was interviewed on the subject by Women's World. And Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Breast Cancer at Smilow Cancer Hospital, told The Guardian how dense breast tissue can complicate screenings and needs specialized attention. Dr. Eric Winer, who leads YCC and Smilow, was interviewed twice on NBC CT for comment on how alcohol use is implicated in cancer risk and about the higher risk of breast cancer in young Asian-American and Native American women. He was also interviewed by Essence for its report "Why Black Women Are At Greater Risk Of Dying From Breast Cancer, Even When It’s Treatable" that followed up on a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. On NPR, Dr. Liane Philpotts hailed 3D mammography, also known as digital breast tomosynthesis or DBT, as “a win, win, win."

The Cancer Network hosted a talk by Timothy Robinson, MD, PhD given at the ASTRO conference on how radiation may play a role as bridging therapy to CAR T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed/refractory Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL).

David Braun, MD, PhD, discussed how biomarkers are evolving for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma for Targeted Oncology. The video is transcribed on the site.

Jeff Gehlhausen, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine, was interviewed by MedScape on a study of the newly issued guidelines for cancer screening in patients with dermatomyositis.

• Oct. 22 • noon • YCC Grand Rounds
"Slowing of Transcription and Epigenetic Rewiring: A New Paradigm to Understanding Biology of Splicing Factor Mutations in Cancer" Prajwal Boddu, MD. Smilow auditorium, 55 Park St.

• Oct. 23 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares • Zoom
Empowered through Knowledge: Breast Cancer Awareness. Drs. Melanie Lynch, Kamal Addagatla, Kathleen Fenn and Kevin Du. Register.

• Oct. 25 • noon to 4 pm • Inaugural YCC National Clinical Trials Network summit
Learn about Lead Academic Participating Site (LAPS) grant. Harkness Auditorium. Register.

• Oct. 28 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares • Zoom
Empowered Through Knowledge: Breast Cancer Awareness. Drs. Ellie Proussaloglou, Siba Kaykal, Anca Bulgaru, and Meena Moran. Smilow Hospital, Waterbury. Register.

• Oct. 28 • 9 a.m. to Noon • Groundwater Approach Seminar
Includes analysis of racial inequities; how historic & systemic factors effect health disparities now. To register.

• Oct. 29 • Inaugural Central Nervous System Metastasis Workshop • 8 AM – 4 PM
YCC members, trainees, and collaborators researching metastasis in Central Nervous system . Register.

• Oct. 30 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares • Zoom
Empowered Through Knowledge: Breast Cancer Awareness. Drs. Elizabeth Butler, Paris Butler, Sarah Schellhorn, Susan Higgins. Smilow Cancer Hospital at Guilford. Register via Zoom

• Nov. 2 • 10 am to 4 pm • First Annual Enrollment & Community Health Fair
Free cancer awareness event at Q House, 197 Dixwell Ave., New Haven with giveaways, free health screenings, health services and education. American Cancer Society , Yale New Haven Health and the Yale Cancer Center.

• Nov. 15 • Inclusive Care for Transgender People with Cancer & Art as Resistance • 11 am to Noon
Join filmmaker Yee Won Chong, the Transgender Cancer Patient Community Advisory Board and Dr. Ash Alpert. This event follows Nov. 14 screening of "Trans Dudes with Lady Cancers," Whitney Humanities Center.

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