University of Arizona Cancer Center Director David S. Alberts, MD, is serving as Co-Chair of the LIvEs (Lifestyle Intervention for Ovarian Cancer Enhanced Survival) study—the first large nationwide study to determine how diet and physical activity together can improve the quality of life and prevent recurrence for women who are in clinical complete remission from advanced ovarian peritoneal or tubal cancer.  
   
Allen M. Chen, MD, of the UC Davis Department of Radiation Oncology, conducted a study, which found significant differences in radiation-therapy response among patients with oropharyngeal cancer depending on whether they carry the human papillomavirus.
 
A new $13.6 million program award from the National Cancer Institute was awarded to a national team of researchers, centered at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, who will examine how patients make treatment decisions, how doctors make treatment recommendations, and how to improve the process for better outcomes. Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, is serving as principal investigator; Sarah Hawley, PhD, MPH, and Jennifer J. Griggs, MD, MPH, are serving as program lead investigators.  
 
Minesh P. Mehta, MBChB, FASTRO, joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and will serve as the Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center.
   
Prognosis for breast cancer after surgery is adverse even when a key protein is expressed moderately and without an amplification of its associated oncogene, suggesting that protein-inhibitor treatment would be beneficial for a larger group of patients than previously thought. The study, published in the October 5, 2012, issue of The Oncologist, was led by Filippo Montemurro, MD, of the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment in Torino, Italy.
   
David Scadden, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, will serve as Associate Editor ofStem Cell Reports, a new online, open-access journal by the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
   
A study led by Zsofia K. Stadler, MD, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, found that early-onset testicular cancers may result from de novo genetic changes. These de novo mutations are not inherited from either parent, but arise in either the egg or sperm cell or sometime during embryonic development. The study was published in the August 10, 2012, issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, and Kenneth Offit, MD, MPH, served as lead author.

Ming T. Tan, PhD, was named Chair of the Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, and Biomathematics at Georgetown University Medical Center.
   
Wiliam Zamboni, PhD, PharmD, of the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, served as co-author of a study which found that genetically engineered mouse models appear to be the most accurate preclinical predictor of how cancer-fighting drugs are delivered to patients with melanoma. The study was published in the September 19, 2012, issue of The Oncologist.

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In Memoriam

Scott C. Crader, MD, FACP
Raza A. Dilawari, MD
John R. Durant, MD

Merit Award Recipients

The following researchers are ASCO members who received 2012 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Merit Awards for submitting high-quality abstracts.*

2012 Quality Care Symposium

Jeffrey Cao, MD, MBA, FRCPC BC
Cancer Agency—Vancouver Cancer Centre

Laura Chin-Lenn, MBBS
University of Calgary

Nathan Connell, MD
Brown University Oncology Group

Sinead Cuffe, MD
Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto

Brendan Curley, DO, MPH
Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center at West Virginia University

Isabella Glitza, MD, PhD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Alex Haynes, MD, MPH
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Maria Ho, MD BC
Cancer Agency—Vancouver Cancer Centre

Joseph Klink, MD
Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic

Naomi Ko, MD, MPH
Boston University Medical Center

Aaron Mansfield, MD
Mayo Clinic

Mark Mishra, MD
Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University

Andrew Moore, MD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Sarah Mougalian, MD
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Manali Patel, MD
Stanford University Medical Center

Anjana Ranganathan, MD
The University of Pennsylvania

*For the complete list of recipients, visit quality.asco.org.