Cambridge Health Alliance(CHA) recently received an Institutional Partner Award from the Medical Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (MACET). CHA was one of two institutions honored statewide for extraordinary contributions to protect their communities at an award ceremony and legislative briefing at the Massachusetts State House for World No TB Day 2012. On average, patients with TB disease or TB infection from Cambridge and surrounding communities make over 2,000 visits annually to CHA for treatment and care, with prevention, education and case management led by the Cambridge Public Health Department, which is part of CHA. Last year, the Cambridge program fully integrated TB patient medical records into CHA’s electronic medical records system, making it the first state-partnered TB clinic in the Commonwealth to do so. In selecting CHA for this year’s award, the MACET noted CHA’s innovative use of electronic medical records as well as the system’s consistent focus on the synergies and partnership between public health and medical providers.
Alan D’Andrea, the Alvan T. and Viola D. Fuller American Cancer Society professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, recently received the 52nd Annual American Association for Cancer Research G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award for his work in understanding cancer survival and progression, which has included milestones such as cloning the erythropoietin receptor and discovering the Fanconi anemia family of proteins involved in maintaining DNA stability. Work from his laboratory has shown that the study of rare pediatric cancer susceptibility syndromes, such as Fanconi anemia, can lead to broad insights into the cause and treatment of cancer in the general population.
The AACR and Eli Lilly and Company established the G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award in 1961 to honor G.H.A. Clowes, a founding member of the AACR. This honor recognizes an individual with outstanding recent accomplishments in basic cancer research. D’Andrea delivered a lecture, “Targeting DNA Repair in Cancer Therapy: Lessons From Fanconi Anemia,” at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012 in April.
D’Andrea is professor of radiation oncology at Dana Farber, of genetics and complex diseases at Harvard School of Public Health, and is co-director of the Gene Therapy Center at Children’s Hospital of Boston, where he is also professor of pediatrics.
Rajni Aneja, was recently named executive vice president of Joslin Diabetes Center.
Aneja will work across all areas of Joslin to address Joslin’s numerous local, national, and global initiatives. She will be actively involved with Joslin’s partners and collaborators to create and deliver cost-effective and high impact diabetes solutions within today’s healthcare economic environment.
Prior to coming to Joslin, Aneja was Chief Medical officer for WebMD health services, and in the past has held roles as the National Medical Director for Disease Management, Quality and Standards for OptumHealth, a UnitedHealth Group company. She has been extensively involved in industry efforts to address the fundamental drivers of utilization and the quality of healthcare service delivery. She is an active contributing member of the Care Continuum Alliance (formerly the Disease Management Association of America), as well as the American College of Physician Executives.
Aneja is a certified physician executive with specialty training in family practice. She earned her medical degree from Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and her physician executive M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts.
Michael Hamblin, HMS associate professor of dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital and member of the affiliated faculty of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, was recently named a fellow to the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) for his achievements in laser photomedicine.
Hamblin is a leading researcher in the areas of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for treatment of cancer and infections, fluorescence diagnosis of diseases, and low-level light therapy. He was one of the first to study PDT-induced immunological responses in cancer treatment, which is a promising avenue for fighting metastatic cancers. Hamblin also designed and prepared a versatile new class of antimicrobial and anticancer photosensitizer-conjugates, and demonstrated their efficacy in vitro and in vivo for new animal models of infection. His cutting-edge work in low-level light therapy (LLLT) includes discovering many basic mechanisms of action of LLLT at a cellular and molecular level and its application to disease and injuries.
SPIE honored 75 new Fellows of the Society this year. Fellows are members of distinction who have made significant scientific and technical contributions in the multidisciplinary fields of optics, photonics and imaging.
Rakesh Jain, A. Werk Cook Professor of Radiation Oncology (Tumor Biology) at Harvard Medical School and director of E.L. Steele Laboratory of Tumor Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, is the recipient of the 2012 Science of Oncology Award and Lecture from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). By combining his extensive expertise and experience in engineering, mathematics, tumor biology and physiology, Jain has created a novel approach to imaging technologies in cancer research that has provided unprecedented molecular, cellular, anatomical and functional insights into tumor barriers and how to overcome them. His discoveries have fundamentally changed the thinking of scientists and clinicians about how antiangiogenic agents work in people with cancer. Jain’s research also represents a premier example of bench-to-bedside translation in oncology.
Each year through its Special Awards Program, ASCO recognizes researchers, patient advocates and leaders of the global oncology community who, through their work, have made significant contributions to enhancing cancer care. These recipients of ASCO’s highest, most prestigious awards collectively represent significant strides in cancer treatment and leadership in the oncology community.
