Rafat Abonour, MD, an oncologist and researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, led a pack of bicyclists on Miles for Myeloma, a 200-mile cycling tour to raise awareness of multiple myeloma. This was Dr. Abonour’s seventh consecutive Miles for Myeloma. To date, Dr. Abonour has raised nearly $1.5 million for multiple myeloma research. All of the funds are used by researchers at the Simon Cancer Center.  
   
Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, Professor of Medicine and Cancer Biology and Associate Director for Clinical Research at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee, was named a recipient of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Brinker Awards for Scientific Distinction for his work explaining the role of several key proteins and growth factor receptors in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. His translational research helped provide the rationale for several of the new targeted cancer therapies.
   
Andrew Artz, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, assumed responsibilities as Interim Director of the Bone Marrow Transplant Program. Dr. Artz was joined by Associate Professor of Medicine Todd Zimmerman, MD, who assumed responsibilities as Director of Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplantation.  
   
Jonas de Souza, MD, and Hongtao Liu, MD, PhD, both joined the faculty at The University of Chicago as Instructors of Medicine.  
   
A team of researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, found a biomarker that may help rapidly identify graft-versus-host disease in patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and other blood disorders who have received a bone-marrow transplant of new, blood-forming cells. James L. M. Ferrara, MD, served as co-lead author of the study and is Director of the University of Michigan Combined Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. The findings were published in the journal Blood.
   
Raymon Grogan, MD, joined the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center as Assistant Professor of Surgery.
   
Researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center identified a specific molecule that alters how breast cancer cells move. Sofia Merajver, MD, PhD, Scientific Director of the Breast Oncology Program at the center, served as lead study author. The findings were published in the journal Cancer Research.
   
William Pao, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, and Cancer Biology, and Director of Personalized Cancer Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was named Director of the Division of Hematology and Oncology in the Department of Medicine.
   
Jamie L. Renbarger, MD, a pediatrician and researcher at IU School of Medicine, was named a recipient of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers by President Obama. The Presidential awards are the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
   
Ravi Salgia, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago, was named Associate Director for Translational Science for the university’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and the new Vice Chair for Translational Research for the Department of Medicine.
   
Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center were awarded a $3.5 million grant from Susan G. Komen for the Cure® to study cancer stem cells in an aggressive subtype of breast cancer that disproportionately affects African-Americans. Max S. Wicha, MD, Distinguished Professor of Oncology and Director of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, serves as principal investigator.
   
Two University of Chicago researchers, Michael J. Thirman, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, and Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology, received Innovation Awards, which are funded by the University of Chicago’s Office of Technology and Intellectual property to support proof-of-concept projects.  
   
Antonio C. Wolff, MD, FACP, was promoted to Professor of Oncology, Breast Cancer Program, at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

The following ASCO members were elected to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team (PCRT) Board of Directors. PCRT is an international network of clinical trials sites organized under TGen Drug Development (TD2), a subsidiary of Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Executive Board Chair:Ramesh K. Ramanathan, MD
TGen and the Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare

Board Vice Chair:Tomislav Dragovich, MD, PhD
Arizona Cancer Center at the University of Arizona

Daniel D. Von Hoff, MD
TGen and Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare

Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD
Centro Nacional Integral de Oncologia “Clara Campal”

Vincent J. Picozzi, MD
Virginia Mason Cancer Center

John Crowley, PhD
Cancer Research and Biostatistics

Mitesh J. Borad, MD
Mayo Clinic Arizona

The following ASCO members were recognized by NCI with 2011 Leadership Awards. These awards recognize exceptional clinical investigators for their contributions to the advancement of clinical research through collaborative team science.

Julie E. Bauman, MD, MPH
University of New Mexico Cancer Center

Tanios S. Bekaii-Saab, MD
Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Anthony B. El-Khoueiry, MD
University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center

David E. Gerber, MD
Harold C. Simmons Cancer Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Andrew H. Ko, MD
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California

Antonio Marcilio Padula Omuro, MD
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Chong-xian Pan, MD, PhD
UC Davis Cancer Center

John Sarantopoulos, MD
Cancer Therapy & Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Scott Schuetze, MD, PhD
University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center

Tait D. Shanafelt, MD
Mayo Clinic

Brenda Weigel, MD
Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota

In Memoriam

• Roland R. Alexander, MD
• Robert A. Buckman, MD, PhD
• Rafael S. De Los Santos, MD
• Stephen D. Feldman, MD
• Dieter Huhn, MD
• David Wilson Kennedy, MD, PhD
• Santiago Pavlovsky, MD, PhD
• Michael C. Perry, MD
• Stephen V. Rigberg, MD

Please send your submissions for Member News & Networking to ascoconnection@asco.org.