Drs. Peter Bach, Maria Jasin, and Kenneth Offit were elected as members of the National Academy of Medicine. They join 21 other MSK scientists in this great honor. “Our newly elected members represent the brightest, most influential, and passionate people in health, science, and medicine in our nation and internationally,” said NAM President Victor J. Dzau.  “They are at the top of their fields and are committed to service.” Members are elected by current NAM members through a rigorous selection process. There are currently 1,826 active NAM members.

Over 900 runners from MSK’s Fred’s Team ran the streets of NYC on Sunday. Fred’s Team has raised an impressive $5 million in 2016 already, and has raised over $68 million for cancer research at MSK since it’s founding in 1996.

MSK was ranked as one of the best companies for vacation and paid time off by GlassDoor. GlassDoor ranks the top 25 companies with the best leave time, based on employee reviews.

MSK was named one of the 50 Greenest Hospitals in the America by Becker’s Hospital Review! Since the development of the Green Team in 2009, MSK has taken on numerous sustainability projects such as composting food waste and saving frying oil. MSK is also taken on the challenge set forth by Mayor Bloomberg to lower its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2019. Because of this MSK was awarded the Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award by Practice Greenhouse in 2016.

Dr. Jedd Wolchok was one of two clinician-scientists to split the the 2016 $100,000 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Science. Dr. Wolchok received the prize from his contributions in immunotherapy and changing how we treat advanced cancer. The Taubmann Prize was established in 2012 to recognize scientists outside of the University of Michigan who have brought bench to bedside discoveries to the forefront of medical practice.

Bita Javadizadeh was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer called cholangiocarcinoma in 2015 that has an average 5 year survival rate of just 2%. But with the care of MSK’s Dr. Ghassan Abou-Alfa, she is beating the odds and giving back to her doctor and patients like her in a huge way. While undergoing chemotherapy, she started a fundraising effort for cholangiocarcinoma that raised $180,000 in 6 weeks that went directly to Dr. Abou-Alfa’s research into this rare cancer. The pair have build a close bond throughout treatment and they hope that raising awareness and funds will increase drug trials and gene studies for this rare form of cancer.

On Monday, October 17, IBM Watson Genomics was launched to the public, making it available to doctors and patients across the country. A joint effort between IBM Watson, Quest Diagnostics, and MSK, Genomics plans to combine cognitive computing with genomic tumor sequencing. MSK’s OncoKB (a precision oncology knowledge base) will be added to the vast amount of scientific data that Watson already has accumulated.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and many local and national companies are donating proceeds to breast cancer research during the month of October. Below are products and companies that have proceeds going directly to breast cancer research at MSK:

• eos Berry Blossom Body Lotion ($6.49) – eos is donating 100% of all October Berry Blossom Body Lotion net profits to MSK
• Kleinfeld Bridal – Kleinfeld is donating 5% of the retail price of every gown over $3,000 to MSK during the month of October
• Bareburger – Bareburger locations across the country are donating $3 to MSK for each sundae sold in October
• Panera Bread – Panera is donating 39 cents from every Pink Ribbon Bagel sold in its Staten Island, Long Island, Brooklyn, and Queens locations to MSK during the month of October

Dr. Monica Morrow, MD, FACS, Chief of the Breast Surgery Service, was awarded the Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction in Clinical Research by Susan G Komen. This award, established in 1992, recognizes the pioneering efforts in clinical and basic science breast cancer research. Dr. Morrow’s approach of “more is not necessarily better” and putting patients in the drivers seat of treatment decisions has made her instrumental in changing breast cancer surgical practices. The Brinker Award winners will be honored and deliver keynote lectures on December 7 at the thirty-ninth Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
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