A selection of news items about MSK and staff!

• Lehigh Valley Health Network of Salisbury joined the MSK Cancer Alliance.  Dr. Craig Thompson, President and CEO of MSK is quoted.

• From the MSK Blog, Neurologist Gavril Pasternak’s lab has developed an opioid derivative that works as well as traditional opioids for pain management.

• Lightpoint Medical, a device company specializing in imaging technologies announced that it has received an R01 grant of $2.6 million from the US National Cancer Institute. The funding will support clinical trials of Lightpoint’s EnLight™ molecular imaging technology in lymph node cancer and a range of gynecologic cancers at MSK.

• The Cancer Research Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the discovery and development of immunotherapies for all forms of cancer will be honoring three scientists for their contributions at an upcoming awards dinner scheduled for Wednesday, September 17, 2015, in New York city.  One of the researchers to receive the 2015 William B. Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Basic Immunology is Alexander Rudensky, Ph.D., Chairman of the Immunology Program and Director of the Ludwig Center at MSK.

• Past President of ASCO takes on new role at MSK to improve patient care and public health.  Q&A with Dr. Clifford  A. Hudis, Vice President for Government Relations and Chief Advocacy Officer; Chief, Breast Medicine Service.

• Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced an agreement with MSK to build a state-of-the-art outpatient cancer treatment center on part of the parking area at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

• National Cancer Institute’s Patient Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) is a reliable measurement tool highlighted in a recent study published in JAMA Oncology (August 13, 2015 issue).  The study’s senior author is Ethan Basch, M.D.