- MSK’s Outpatient Art Program (established in 2013) which includes both temporary and permanent installations coordinated by Outpatient Curator Sarah Campbell, was highlighted in a March 25 Hyperallergic article. How art is being integrated into MSK’s mission and the role it serves in the healing process of patients was explained.
- MSK’s Visible Ink writing program was described in a March 30 News 1 segment that reported on how learning to write down their personal stories has helped many cancer patients of all ages. The program produces annual anthologies of the written works and also organizes a yearly performance where the best pieces are read by actors.
- On NPR’s March 26 Morning Edition, jazz singer and MSK patient MaryAnn Anselmo was featured in a story about how genetic testing of her tumor — which showed it to have a mutation usually found in skin cancer — lead to her brain cancer being treated with a skin cancer drug therapy.
- A March 24 Reuters Health piece described a recent study by MSK’s Dr. Raymond Thornton and his group which showed that patients may not currently be getting as much information about the risks of radiologic testing as they might wish to receive from their doctors.
Category Archives: MSK in the News
Off-Broadway play set at MSK to premiere in August 2016 and more…
- On March 5, the Broadway Buzz reported that a new play by Halley Feiffer will premiere at the off-Broadway MCC Theatre at the Lucille Lortel Theatrein August 2016. Its title is a mouthful: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City.
- Nobel laureate, outgoing director of the National Cancer Institute, and former MSK President, Dr. Harold Varmus, will be returning to NYC’s Upper East Side to take a position at Weill Cornell Medical College as the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine. He will also join the New York Genome Center as a Senior Associate Core Member.
- In his March 11 State of the County Address, Nassau County Executive, Edward Mangano, announced plans for a new MSK outpatient treatment facility to be built on Long Island, and projected to open in 2018.
- In early March, the Associates Committee of the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, hosted their annual Bunny Hop, a child-focused fundraiser which this year featured about 50 giant carrots among the kid-friendly décor and entertainment.
- In a March 11 company news release, it was announced that MSK’s Urgent Care Center will soon be adopting the Advantages patient flow system to help improve the patient experience. This Versus system has already been successfully implemented at a couple of MSK’s outpatient treatment facilities.
Dr. David Hyman explains precision medicine on PBS News Hour and more…
- On the March 1 edition of PBS News Hour, MSK’s Dr. David Hyman explained changes in the way oncologists currently think about and treat cancers. He said that the new focus is on the genetic mutations that cause cancer rather than on the organ that the cancer originates from. Drugs are now being developed that target a particular mutation in a tumor and these may potentially be beneficial to patients regardless of the type of cancer (based on organ) that they have.
- MSK will soon be incorporating real-time patient monitoring software, developed by PeraHealth, into its electronic health record (EHR) systems. It is believed that this new technology will result in improved communication among care team members as clinicians will be provided with an updated computed score of how a patient is doing every time new data is added to a patient’s record.
- Dr. Margaret Polaneczky and her colleagues at Weill Cornell Medical College, along with clinicians at MSK, have created an online patient decision aid that helps women (ages 40-49) decide whether or not to get a mammogram. The website, available at http://breastscreeningdecisions.com, was inspired by the guideline reversal that occurred in 2009 when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released new screening recommendations for women ages 40-49.
- MSK’s Dr. Samuel D. Kaffenberger and his colleagues presented a paper at the 2015 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium last week, during which they reported on a study where they were able to use protein expression characteristics to accurately stratify patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma and predict their prognosis.