2008 Merit Awards Presented to Authors of Outstanding Abstracts
The ASCO Cancer Foundation Grants Program supports fellows' research efforts, encourages continued investigational pursuits
The 2008 ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Awards have been presented to 100 oncology fellows who are the first authors of outstanding Meeting abstracts. Two of these fellows have further distinguished themselves by receiving special Merit Awards for submitting top-ranking abstracts to the Meeting.
"An ASCO Merit Award is both a recognition of past achievement and an indication of future promise," said Steven M. Grunberg, MD, Editor of the ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings in an interview with ASCO Daily News. "Presentations that achieve such awards must not only be among the highest-rated abstracts submitted by fellows to the ASCO Annual Meeting but also must be considered superior when compared with all of the abstracts submitted to the Annual Meeting."
The Bradley Stuart Beller Merit Award has been presented to Joshua Brody, MD, of Stanford University Medical Center, for his research, "Clinical and immunologic responses to a novel in situ lymphoma vaccine maneuver: Preliminary results of a phase II trial of intra-tumoral CpG 7900." Dr. Brody will present his research during today's Developmental Therapeutics: Immunotherapy Oral Abstract Session (3:00 PM-6:00 PM; Room W375A, West Building). (A profile of Dr. Brody appears in Section B of the Monday issue of ASCO Daily News.)
The Bradley Stuart Beller Merit Award was presented for the first time in 2007 and was established to honor a fellow who submits the overall highest-ranked abstract. The award is funded through the Bradley Stuart Beller Endowment, which was created by Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Beller - in collaboration with The ASCO Cancer Foundation Board of Directors - in May 2006 on the occasion of Dr. Beller's retirement from service to ASCO and The ASCO Foundation and in memory of their son, Bradley Stuart Beller.
Ajay Gupta, MD, MBBS, of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, is the 2008 recipient of the Brigid Leventhal Merit Award. He will present his research, "Randomized control trial comparing efficacy of oral amoxicillin-clavulanate and ofloxacin with intravenous triaxone and amikacin as outpatient therapy in pediatric low risk febrile neutropenia," on Sunday during a Poster Discussion Session: Pediatric Cancer (2:00 PM-6:00 PM; Hall A1, South Building). (A profile of Dr. Gupta appears in Section B of the Sunday issue of ASCO Daily News.)
The award is named in honor of Brigid Leventhal, MD, a pioneer in children's oncology at Johns Hopkins University who spent her career helping young patients with cancer, and is granted to the author of the highest-ranked abstract submitted in the field of pediatric cancer research.
Abstracts eligible for Merit Award consideration are evaluated during the normal abstract review period by the Scientific Program Committee, with the Pediatric Subcommittee selecting the top abstract in its category for the Brigid Leventhal Award. The monetary awards are provided by The ASCO Cancer Foundation and are intended to aid young physicians with travel expenses for the Annual Meeting. More importantly, the award recognition supports further research in clinical oncology.
Explained Dr. Grunberg, "For experienced investigators and Meeting attendees, the Merit Award is a signal that this is a young investigator to watch (particularly if one is recruiting for junior faculty members or colleagues). For the fellow receiving the Award, it is a sign that the work performed is respected and that we welcome the fellow into the national and international oncology community. As the number of abstracts submitted to the Annual Meeting continues to increase, so does the number of meritorious abstracts received from fellows and considered for these Awards. We are proud of the effort and achievement of our trainees who earn this honor."
A complete list of Merit Award recipients who will present research at the Annual Meeting, including the date, time, and location of each session, appears in Section C of each day's issue of ASCO Daily News.
Merit Award Winners to Participate in Oral Abstract Sessions, CSS
The following Merit Award winners have further distinguished themselves by earning support for their research in the form of 2008 ASCO Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Awards as of March 20, 2008: Amy Jo Chien, MD; Richard Lee, MD; and Marc Theoret, MD.
Of the 100 Merit Award winners presenting their research at the Annual Meeting, 19 will present or have presented at Oral Abstract Sessions:
Breast Cancer - Local-regional and Adjuvant Therapy: Rajini Katipamula, MBBS
Breast Cancer - Metastatic: Shaheenah S. Dawood, MD; Renata Duchnowska, MD
Cancer Prevention: Hyatt P. DeGreen, DO
Developmental Therapeutics: Cytotoxic Chemotherapy: Hendrik-Toblas Arkenau, MD; Debashis Sarker, MD; Jessica M. van der Bol, MD
Developmental Therapeutics: Immunotherapy: Joshua Brody, MD; Ravi A. Madan, MD
Genitourinary Cancer (Prostate and Testes): Daniel C. Danila, MD
Gynecologic Cancer: Peter C. Fong, MBBS, FRACP
Head and Neck Cancer: Lauren A. Byers, MD
Health Services Research: Elizabeth Dawn Trice, MD, PhD; Alexi Anne Wright, MD
Lymphoma: Alexandra Thomas, MD
Pediatric Cancer II: Wendy Woods- Swafford, MD
Sarcoma: Timothy R. Donahue, MD; Emanuela Palmerini, MD; Min S. Park, MD
Nine recipients will present or have presented their abstracts during Clinical Science Symposia (CSS):
An Update on Current Approaches to the Treatment of Fatigue and Insomnia in Patients with Cancer: Oxana Palesh, PhD
Advances in Immunotherapy for Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma: Complementing Conventional and Novel Chemotherapy: Ariel Anguiano, MD
Emerging Targets for Sarcoma Therapy: David Olmos, MD, PhD; Lauren Wiebe, MD
Factors Mediating Endocrine Therapy Response and Resistance: Robyn MacFarlane, MD
Innovative Research in Aging and Cancer: Richard T. Lee, MD
Monitoring Therapeutic Response: Imaging, Circulating Cells, and Other Biomarkers: Brigitte K. Rack, MD
Non-Smoking-Related Lung Cancers: Yelena Y. Janjigian, MD
VEGF Pathway, Renal Cancer, and Its Treatment: Premal H. Patel, MD, PhD
