Embracing the Changes Ahead

Embracing the Changes Ahead

Jonathan S. Berek, MD, MMedSc, FASCO

Jul 01, 2015

Dear Colleagues:

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Society’s new President, Dr. Julie M. Vose. Dr. Vose brings extensive experience to the job as an internationally recognized expert in the research and treatment of patients with lymphoma, coupled with a strong background in both business and survivorship issues. This diverse skillset, as well as her Presidential theme— Collective Wisdom: Patient-Centered Care and Research—dovetail perfectly with a year of historic changes for both ASCO and the field of oncology.

2015-2016 will witness the advent of value-based payment reform; the launch of big data initiatives, including the Society’s own CancerLinQ™; the first Cancer Survivorship Symposium: Advancing Care and Research; and ASCO’s first clinical trial, TAPUR.

Dr. Vose’s Presidential theme, with its focus on patient-centered care and research, aptly recognizes that “the patient is at the center of a very complex system trying to assist him/her through their journey of cancer care”.

We further explore the concept of the continuum of cancer care with an article on the role of exercise in prevention and prognosis and a preview of the first-ever symposium on cancer survivorship, which will bring together a wide variety of professionals to address the growing needs and complex challenges faced by cancer survivors.

Of course, it takes a lot of money to fuel these many endeavors. If you were in Chicago during this past Annual Meeting or following the Meeting via social media, you know that the Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO launched its public-facing campaign. This next step in the Foundation’s planned growth will give the organization even more power to fund the next generation of researchers and the initiatives that will pave the way for a world free from the fear of cancer.

If you missed the 2015 Presidential Address by 2014-2015 ASCO President Dr. Peter Yu, we are honored to include an excerpt in this issue. Dr. Yu speaks eloquently about change and the need to embrace it despite the tensions inherent in that proposition, as well as how best to transform the explosion of knowledge and data into true learning that will benefit patients.

Please visit us online at ASCOconnection.org to comment on these and other articles.

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