The Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO congratulates the recipients of the 2016 Long-term International Fellowship (LIFe) and International Development and Education Awards (IDEA). These awards provide vital opportunities for oncologists in low- and middle-income countries to receive valuable training and experience to improve cancer care in their home countries. They also reflect the Foundation’s dedication to advancing the care of people with cancer around the world. Since the establishment of its grants program in 1984, the Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in research funding to oncologists in at least 65 countries.

“The oncology community is an international network, and the advancement of cancer care is a global priority,” said Thomas G. Roberts, Jr., MD, Chair of the Conquer Cancer Foundation Board of Directors. “However, oncologists practicing in low- and middle-income countries encounter unique challenges to delivering care. These awards help equip recipients with the support they need to develop novel solutions with the potential to improve care, not only in their own countries, but in other environments where similar disparities exist.”

Long-term International Fellowship

First awarded in 2010, the Long-term International Fellowship (LIFe) advances the training and experience of young oncologists in low- and middle-income countries by providing a one-year fellowship opportunity with an existing ASCO mentor in the United States, Canada, or the European Union. The award serves to nurture relationships that facilitate international mentoring, knowledge exchange, and education. The 2016 LIFe recipients are as follows:

Nisreen Yousef Amayiri, MBBS, MD
“Subgrouping medulloblastoma in low income countries using immunohistochemistry staining (and PCR) techniques”
Home Institution: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan
Sponsoring Institution: The Hospital for Sick Children
Mentor: Eric Bouffet, MD

Allan Andresson Lima Pereira, MD, PhD
“Circulating tumor DNA as an early marker to monitor clinical benefit of regorafenib in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer”
Home Institution: Instituto do Cancer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP) - Sao Paulo University (USP), Brazil
Sponsoring Institution: The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Mentor: Scott Kopetz, MD

Enrique Soto Perez de Celis, MD
“Assessing the patient-defined treatment preferences and goals of older adults with cancer”
Home Institution: Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Medicas y Nutricion Salvador Zubiran, Mexico
Sponsoring Institution: City of Hope
Mentor: Arti Hurria, MD

Shuhang Wang, MD, MS
“A phase I study of nimotuzumab in combination with nivolumab in previously treated NSCLC”
Home Institution: Beijing Cancer Hospital, China
Sponsoring Institution: Mayo Clinic, Minnesota
Mentor: Alex Adjei, MD, PhD

International Development and Education Awards

The International Development and Education Award (IDEA) connects young oncologists in low- and middle-income countries with leading ASCO members in the United States and Canada, who serve as scientific mentors. Award recipients will attend the 2016 ASCO Annual Meeting and visit their mentor’s institution to enhance their skills and impart this key knowledge to their peers back home. The International Development and Education Award in Palliative Care (IDEA-PC) provides this same opportunity for early-career oncologists with a specific interest in palliative medicine.

Previous surveys of the IDEA program have shown that, on average, each award recipient shares the information learned through the program with 130 colleagues in his or her home country. Notably, this is the first year that IDEA awards will support oncologists from Jamaica and Azerbaijan.

The 2016 IDEA recipients are as follows:

• Yusuf Adetomiwa Adelabu, MBBS, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
• Jalil Salih Ali, MBChB, Zhinawa Cancer Center, Iraq
• Juliano Cé Coelho, MD, Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Fábio de Figueirêdo Chaves, MD, Cancer Institute of Ceará, Brazil
• Jayson L. Co, MD, University of Santo Tomas Hospital, Philippines
• Andrea Craciunescu, MD, Ion Chiricuta Oncology Institute Cluj-Napoca, Romania
• Chris Tania Echeveste, MD, PhD, Hospital General de Mexico, Mexico
• Oladapo Adedayo Kolawole, MBBS, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
• Dorothy Chilambe Lombe, MD, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
• Manuel Caitano Maia, MD, Instituto do Cancer do Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Jesse Elungat Opakas, MBBS, MD, Academic Model for Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kenya
• Fernando Pérez Jacobo, MD, Hospital Central Norte Pemex, Mexico
• Raja Pramanik, MD, BRA Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, India
• Susmita Sharma, MBBS, MD, Bir Hospital, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Nepal
• Kul Ranjan Singh, MBBS, MS, MCh, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow, India
• Mohammed Abdulqader Suwaid, MBChB, MD, Al Anbar Oncology Center, Iraq
• Narmin Talibova, MD, National Oncology Center, Azerbaijan
• Andre Jerome Williams, MBBS, DM, Cornwall Regional Hospital, Jamaica
• Uday Yanamandra, MBBS, MD, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, India
• Davit Zohrabyan, MD, Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia

The 2016 IDEA-PC award recipients are as follows:

• Pham Tuan Anh, MD, National Cancer Hospital of Viet Nam, Vietnam
• Sandhya Chapagain Acharya, MD, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bir Hospital, Nepal
• Ali Alkan, MD, Ankara University School of Medicine, Turkey

Supporters

The 2016 LIFe is supported by Amgen; Conquer Cancer Foundation; Conquer Cancer Foundation Mission Endowment; and Roche.

The 2016 IDEA is supported by Avon Foundation for Women; Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Conquer Cancer Foundation Mission Endowment; CRDF Global; National Cancer Institute; National Science Foundation; NF Nimeh, MD; and Takeda Oncology.