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1. An October joint summit of two Connecticut cancer organizations—the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and the Connecticut Cancer Partnership—focused on the future of patient navigation. The keynote speaker (top left at podium) was Tracy Battaglia, MD, MPH, Associate Cancer Center Director, Cancer Care Equity, Yale Cancer Center. Also, a panel of experts on the topic included Nancy Borstelmann, PhD, MPH, LCSW, co-director of the Early Onset Cancer Program at Yale/Smilow.
   
   
2. “Preserving Hope: Fertility Care for Patients with Cancer and Hematological Disorders," a half day CME conference, drew about 75 attendees to Cohen Auditorium. After welcomes from YCC Director Drs. Eric Winer and Hugh Taylor, chair of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, there were two sessions. The first included talks on all aspects of medical oncology and preserving fertility for men, women, pediatric and young adults and services available at Yale. They were by Drs. Kutluk Oktay, Katherine Rotker, Maryam Lustberg, Anne Smith, Asher Marks, Aydin Arici and Rozalyn Rodwin. A talk on “Sickle Cell Disease as a Model: Understanding Barriers to Fertility Preservation” was offered by Drs. Layla Van Doren and Lakshmanan Krishnamurti. The final talk was by the co-directors of the Early Onset Cancer Program “Addressing Complex Needs and ­­Disparities Across Cancer Diagnoses” (at podium in top right photo) by Dr. Veda Giri and Nancy Borstelmann, PhD, MPH, LCSW.
   
   
3. On Oct. 24, two of Connecticut’s largest healthcare providers broke ground on the Connecticut Proton Therapy Center in Wallingford—a partnership between Yale New Haven Health and Hartford HealthCare, in collaboration with Proton International, LLC , Yale Medicine, and Radiation Oncology Associates, PA. The 25,000-square-foot Wallingford facility will offer advanced proton therapy, a cutting-edge cancer treatment that uses a targeted proton beam rather than traditional X-rays. It is expected to be complete within two years and accepting the first patients by December 2026. It is one of only a handful of such centers in New England. For more
   
   
4. Smilow Cancer Hospital Advanced Practice Providers who achieved their APP Clinical Ladder II recently include Tara Anderson, PA (Malignant Hematology-Myeloma); Alfredo Axtmayer, APRN (Malignant Hematology); Stephanie Kacik, APRN (BMT/Stem Cell Transplantation/Cellular Therapy); Nicole Paul, APRN (Palliative Care); Stephen Socha, APRN (Smilow Waterford/LMH Oncology Consult Service) and Erica Stevens, APRN (Malignant Hematology-Myeloma). Also, Clinical Ladder III was achieved by Polly Sather, APRN (Pulmonary/Lung Cancer Screening).
   
   
5. Jennifer Kapo, MD is one of five people elected to the Faculty Standards Review Committee of the Yale School of Medicine.
   
   
6. Dr. Raghav Sundar chaired an international webinar in October. The ESMO in Focus Webinar, the first of its kind organized by the European Society for Medical Oncology, focused on the practice-changing studies and new science presented on Gastrointestinal Cancers at the ESMO conference in mid-September in Barcelona, Spain.

We have appointed Michaela Dinan, PhD as the Associate Cancer Center Director for Research, Training and Education (CRTEC). This is an important component in the Yale Cancer Center and the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG). Michalea is extremely well qualified to take on this task. She will be working closely with Faye Rogers, PhD who leads our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) effort and Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS who is the Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement. Michalea is an accomplished health services researcher, a highly effective teacher, and an exceptionally strong mentor. She also will become the Co-Director of the Cancer Outcomes, Public Policy and Effectiveness Research Center (COPPER).

We want to thank Harriet Kluger, MD, who has served as the CRTEC lead for over a decade. She has worked tirelessly on education and training and has built a remarkable program which has been reviewed favorably as part of the regular five-year CCSG review. Harriet continues to lead the Division of Skin and Kidney Cancer, is Vice-Chair of Collaborative research within Internal Medicine, is Co-Leader of the Skin SPORE, runs an active laboratory and has a busy clinical practice. She will continue to work closely with the Cancer Center leadership as a Special Counsel to the Director.

1. At an October ceremony in the Medical Historical Library, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences Elena Ratner, MD, was presented with the 2024 David and Cindy Leffell Prize for Clinical Excellence. Ratner, who is co-chief of the Section of Gynecologic Oncology in Ob/Gyn and a member of Yale Cancer Center, is an internationally recognized gynecologic oncologist with special interests in chemotherapy-targeted drug development, patient quality of life programs, and early cancer detection. Read more including YSM Dean Nancy Brown’s comments.

2. A Yale Spinout company, Modifi Biosciences, has been acquired by Merck. A leader in the development of direct DNA modification enabled cancer therapeutics, it was founded by Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, PhD, Harvey and Kate Cushing, Professor of Therapeutic Radiology at Yale School of Medicine, and Scientific Director of the Yale Brain Tumor Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital along with Seth Herzon, PhD, the Milton Harris ’29 PhD Professor of Chemistry in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutic Radiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Read more

3. The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) elected Haifan Lin, PhD, as a new member. He is Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology; professor of genetics; of obstetrics, gynecology & reproductive sciences; and of dermatology; director of the Yale Stem Cell Center; and a Yale Cancer Center member. He was honored “for making key contributions to the validation of two hallmark stem cell theories: asymmetric division and niche hypotheses." Read more.

4. Patricia LoRusso, DO, Chief of Experimental Therapeutics at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, participated this month in The White House Global Cancer Fund Roundtable: Leveraging Partnerships for a Global Response. The roundtable explored how to design a global cancer fund with collective efforts from governments, the private sector, non-profits, and international organizations to address challenges in advancing cancer treatment.

5. Prasanna Ananth, MD, PhD an associate professor of pediatrics (Hematology-Oncology) at YSM, gave a plenary talk at the 6th Maruzza International Congress on Pediatric Palliative Care, in Rome, Italy in mid-October. The congress theme was "Roots and Horizons: Learning From Yesterday, Living Today, Shaping The Future.” Next, Dr. Ananth is headed to Memphis, Tenn. to participate in the inaugural Symposium on Applied Qualitative Research for Pediatric Catastrophic Disease, hosted by St. Jude, in cooperation with The Lancet Oncology.

6. Renee Moye, MSN, APRN, BC, OCN, of the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center, Fairfield was among those honored at the Ninth Annual 100 Women of Color Gala & Awards at the Bushnell Performing Arts Center in Hartford. Moye, an oncology nurse for 30 years, is also a cancer survivor. The gala honors 100 influential women of color from Connecticut to western Massachusetts, celebrating their achievements in business, education, entrepreneurship, entertainment, and government, as well as their positive impact on their communities. It was founded by June Archer, an entrepreneur.

Jan Bewersdorf, MD, (top left) received his medical degree in Germany at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and completed his residency at YNHH and a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. A clinician-scientist with expertise in myeloid malignancies, his research efforts have led to over 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Bewersdorf is the recipient of the 2024 EvansMDS Young Investigator Award.

Matthew Danish, MD, (not pictured) joins Smilow Cancer Hospital at Waterford and Westerly to care for patients with benign and malignant hematological conditions. Dr. Danish has cared for patients in Rhode Island for the past several years, having completed his fellowship in hematology/oncology at Brown University and joined South County Hospital following graduation. He earned his medical degree from Drexel University and completed his residency at Rutgers University College of Medicine.

Jing Du, MD, PhD (top row middle) cares for patients with breast cancer in New Haven. She earned her medical degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and her PhD in Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina. She then pursued a Kirschstein-NRSA Training Fellowship in the lab of Dr. John Hwa at YSM. Dr. Du finished residency training with Yale New Haven Hospital, receiving the prestigious Browning Award. She just completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology-Hematology.

Robert Matera, MD, (top row right) earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine, and completed his residency at Rhode Island Hospital/ Brown University where he was Chief Resident. During his fellowship in Medical Oncology-Hematology at Yale his focused on the tumor microenvironment composition and its role in disease progression and treatment resistance. Dr. Matera primarily cares for patients with genitourinary cancers at Smilow Cancer Hospital in Waterbury.

William Oh, MD, (bottom row left) is a genitourinary oncologist whose most recent academic role was as chief of hematology/oncology at Mount Sinai. Dr. Oh got his undergraduate degree at Yale and his medical degree at NYU. His residency was at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, followed by a fellowship at Dana-Farber. where he was on the faculty for nearly a decade before joining Mount Sinai in 2009. At Smilow, he will care for patients with prostate cancer in Greenwich and New Haven. He also will have two important roles— Oncology Service Line Leader for the Greenwich Delivery Network and Director of Precision Medicine for YCC.

Thejal Srikumar, MD, MPH, (bottom row middle) cares for patients as part of the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers as well as the Smilow Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program and has a specific focus on young adults with GI cancers and those at high-risk for GI malignancies. Dr. Srikumar graduated Harvard University as an undergrad, earned her medical degree from the University of South Florida Morsani, and completed her residency at YSM where she served as Chief Resident. She then completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology-Hematology at Yale, during which she obtained an Executive Master of Public Health degree in Epidemiology and Health Informatics. Dr. Srikumar is passionate about medical education and is an Assistant Program Director of the Yale Medical Oncology-Hematology Fellowship Program.

Raghav Sundar, MBBS, PhD, (bottom row right) joins YCC from the National University Cancer Institute in Singapore where he served as a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist and Research Director for the Department of Hematology-Oncology. He brings his expertise in gastrointestinal malignancies including gastroesophageal, hepatobiliary, and colorectal cancer to the Center for Gastrointestinal Cancers. His research interests focus on the genomics and epigenetics of gastroesophageal cancers and tumors that metastasize to the peritoneum, as well as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

The first Yale Cancer Center National Clinical Trials Network Summit on Oct. 25 drew about 60 attendees to Harkness Auditorium.

Dr. Anne Chiang, who serves as PI for the center's LAPS (Lead Academic Participating Sites) grant, welcomed all and introduced speaker Roy Herbst, MD, PhD who gave the keynote address on "The Impact of Cooperative Group Science: From Public to Personal."

Following was an interactive panel session on "How to Engage in the Cooperative Groups" with faculty including Drs. Barbara Burtness (ECOG), Maryam Lustberg (ALLIANCE), Kert Sabbath (ALLIANCE), Henry Park (NRG), and Dr. Herbst (SWOG) and was moderated by Dr. Chiang (SWOG).

Finally, attendees participated in breakout groups—Clinical Trials, Translational Studies, Mentoring/Training, and Community Outreach—fthat were facilitated by Drs. Stacey Stein and Sabbath; Lajos Pusztai and Burtness; Drs. Sarah Goldberg and Maryam Lustberg; and Drs. Jacquelyne Gaddy and Jessica Lewis, respectively.

The National Cancer Institute's clinical trial network is a group of carefully chosen organizations and clinicians that coordinate and support cancer clinical trials at more than 2,200 sites in the US, Canada, and internationally. NCTN provides the infrastructure for NCI-funded treatment and primary advanced imaging trials to improve the lives of people with cancer. Yale is one of 32 US academic institutions awarded a Lead Academic Participating Site (LAPS) grant, created especially for participants in the network. The sites are academic research institutions with fellowship training programs, and most are NCI-Designated Cancer Centers including the Yale Cancer Center.

October publications by Yale researchers include the following journals and topics: A pair of studies in the Journal of Clinical Oncology about Sacituzumab Govitecan; Nature Reviews Microbiology (gastrointestinal cancer development); Journal of Gynecologic Oncology (diagnostic examination of Black and White patients with uterine cancer); American Journal of Pathology (hepatocellular carcinoma); Clinical Imaging (imagery-based screenings); and Patient Education & Counseling (gender identity collection tools). For more

• The Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research is issuing a request for proposals focused on therapy optimization in pediatric blood cancers. The aim is to reduce short- and long-term treatment-associated toxicities while maintaining efficacy. The amount allocated per grant will depend on the number of applications selected for funding. For more visit this web site. Deadline for a Letter of Intent is Nov. 22.

• The Lion Heart Fund, a non-profit devoted to raising money for Yale Cancer Center breast cancer research , is accepting applications for a pair of one-year $50,000 research grants for 2025. YCC members are encouraged to submit proposals requiring pilot funding in any area of breast cancer research. In a single PDF document, submit proposals to David Stern and cc to Janine Hoffmann. Deadline is 11:59 PM Nov. 10, 2024. Subject line should say: Lion Heart Application. The PDF should include a title page with the project title, primary investigator and co-investigators and contact information for the PI; lay and technical abstracts (250 words each); a NIH-style biosketch (5 pages max); a proposal including discussion of future directions and how the funding would achieve your career goals (4 pages single-space max, excluding references, 11 point Arial font, 1" margins ); and proposed budget.

• National Comprehensive Cancer Network and Taiho Oncology seek proposals for the design and performance of clinical studies of Trifluridine/Tipiracil and Futibatinib for treatment of gastrointestinal cancers. Deadline: 5 pm ET Nov. 12. For more email Nicole Zion , subject: “NCCN Taiho Gastrointestinal RFP."

• The US Department of Defense is soliciting letters of intent for glioblastoma research grants in three focus areas—biomarkers, drug delivery, and novel disease models. Deadlines: Pre-application letters of intent due Nov. 6 by 5 pm ET; applications due Nov. 20 by 11:59 PM. Details: https://cdmrp.health.mil/funding/gbmrp

Nov. 5 • noon • Grand Round, Patricia and Julia Kingsbury Lecture in Breast Cancer • Smilow Auditorium
“Breast Cancer in Young Women: Optimizing Knowledge and Care to Improve Outcomes,”presented by Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, who holds the Eric P. Winer, MD, Chair in Breast Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. Zoom passcode 313000

Nov. 6 • 8AM to 2:30 PM • 39th Annual Ella A. Grasso Memorial Conference in Gynecological Oncology • Yale West Campus Conference Center
Hear from a dozen experts in gynecological cancers including Drs. Mitchell Clark, Steven Fleischman, Steven Fleischman, Elena Ratner, Clare Flannery, Masoud Azodi, Pei Hui, Mary Jane Minkin, Alessandro Santin, and Melinda Irwin. More here.

Nov. 7 • 5 to 7:30 PM • Envisioning a World Free of Lung Disease • CT Asnuntuck Community College
An American Lung Association event for providers. Presentations on its mission and experts including, Laki Rousou, MD and Anil Magge, MD, both of Trinity Health of New England; Joy Peck, BSN, RN, ONC of Smilow Cancer Center; David Hill, MD; and Diahann Wilcox, DNP, APRN-BC, UConn Health.

Nov. 12 • noon • YCC Distinguished Lecture Series • Brady Auditorium, Cedar Street
“Induced Proximity: Exploring New Therapeutic Modalities,” presented by Craig Crews, PhD. Zoom passcode 801241

Nov. 12 • 6 pm • Smilow Shares with Primary Care • Lung Cancer • Zoom
With Beth Allard, MD, PhD; Anne Chiang, MD, PhD; and Gavitt Woodard, MD

Nov. 13 • 8 am • Smilow Town Hall • Zoom
Transitioning Inpatient Treatment to the Outpatient Setting (Scott Huttington, MD, MPH)
Smilow Cares Signature Council (Marianne Davies, NP, DNP, MSN, BSN and Kate Danies Mason, FNP)
IV Fluid Utilitization and Mitigation Plan (Osama Abdelghany, PharmaD, MHA, BCOP)
High Priority Work Street Planning: Readmission, Length of Stay, Inpatient Mortality (Jensa Morris, MD)

Nov. 13 • 5 pm to 7:30 pm • Smilow Hospital Auditorium
An in-person event for patients, caregivers, friends, and family. ‘Understanding Lung Cancer: A Conference to Raise Awareness and Offer Hope to those Impacted by Lung Cancer' will feature presentations and panel discussions led by lung cancer experts. RSVP: https://bit.ly/understanding-lungcancer

Nov. 15 • Inclusive Care for Transgender People with Cancer & Art as Resistance • 11 am to Noon • Anlyan Center
Join filmmaker Yee Won Chong, the Transgender Cancer Patient Community Advisory Board and Dr. Ash Alpert. This discussion follows the previous evening's 8:30 pm screening of "Trans Dudes with Lady Cancers," Whitney Humanities Center.

Nov. 19 • noon • YCC Grand Rounds • Smilow auditorium
“Canine Cancer Therapy: From Puppies to Patients,” presented by Mark Mamula, PhD. Zoom passcode 313000