November 22, 2011

Announcements

Smilow Update  

National Accreditation for Breast Centers Site Visit
Yale is set to become the first NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Northeast with a nationally accredited breast center.  Over the past year, the team at the Breast Center - Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven has been working hard on developing organizational structure, evidence-based guidelines, and other quality improvement metrics to showcase our commitment to the highest quality of comprehensive interdisciplinary care for our patients with diseases of the breast.  Few large cancer centers have subjected themselves to the rigorous evaluation required for accreditation through the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), and we are pleased to be one of the first to make the accreditation a priority.  As part of this process, we will welcome Dr. Arnold Herman, a surveyor for the Commission on Cancer/NAPBC to Smilow on November 30 who will meet our leadership, tour our facilities, conduct a chart audit for compliance to quality metrics, and attend our breast conference.   

Learn More about the Accreditation >>

Melanoma Institute of Australia Visits Smilow
Members of the Melanoma Institute of Australia visited with the Melanoma Program at Smilow last week and attended Tumor Board to learn how to better integrate their program for multidisciplinary care.  Dr. Jonathan Stretch, director of their program, scheduled the visit to allow his team to participate in a group tumor board and multidisciplinary care meeting so they can replicate our program in Australia.   

Members of the Melanoma Institute of Australia and Smilow Cancer Hospital's Melanoma Program

Notables

Correction from the November 11 Issue of DirectConnect:

The American Cancer Society elected 11 new officers to its volunteer 2010-2011 National Board of Directors. Vincent T. DeVita, Jr., MD, the Amy and Joseph Perella Professor of Medicine at Yale Cancer Center, was elected President Elect of the Board.

Learn More >>

Michael Hurwitz and Hari Deshpande are participating in Movember!

For Movember, men start at the beginning of the month of November clean-shaven and grow mustaches to promote awareness of men's health and, specifically, of prostate cancer. Movember raises funds for the Livestrong Foundation and The Prostate Cancer Foundation. Please support their efforts through Team Smi-Mo.

Learn More >>

Employee Profile:

Amy Ellis

The Employee Profile recognizes the diverse contributions made by Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital staff have to meet our patient care, research, education, and outreach goals. The staff profiled are examples of the great work being done here, and the dedication and values we possess. To suggest someone to be profiled, please contact Emily Fenton

.  

From managing departmental accounts, to grant submissions, Amy Ellis has a hand in a little bit of everything as an Accountant for Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. Amy is responsible for making sure charging within the departments is done correctly, and she handles grant submissions for all of medical oncology; all while making sure things are done in a timely fashion.

For the grant submissions, Amy works with the PIs to create budgets, gathers information needed from other departments, and in collaboration with the Administrative Assistants, puts together the grant information and makes sure everything is accurate before submission. "It is great to see all of that hard work pay off when a grant is funded. You hope that it will make a difference for cancer patients, and in turn you feel like you have made a small difference in some way as well," said Amy.

Amy started at Yale as an Administrative Assistant working on the clinical side, but was looking for a challenge and a chance to grow. 6 years ago the opportunity arose for a position as a Financial Assistant at the Cancer Center and she took it, and shortly after was promoted to Accountant. Amy explained that the people she works with make her job easy and that she never gets bored with what she does.

Jennifer Mulligan, Associate Director of Finance and Administration commented, "Amy has been an integral member of the YCC Business Office team for the last six years. Her work with faculty developing grant budgets and assisting in the coordination of complex applications has shown her growth over this time frame. She has proven to be an invaluable member of the team. I see a great future for Amy in her dedication to her work and the Cancer Center as we grow."

Funding Opportunities 

2012 Connecticut Stem Cell Research Grants

The Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health and Connecticut Innovations, is pleased to announce the availability of the 2012 RFP to support the advancement of embryonic and/or human adult stem cell research in Connecticut.

Any non-profit, tax-exempt academic institution of higher education, any hospital that conducts biomedical research or any entity that conducts biomedical research or embryonic or human adult stem cell research may apply for grants from the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Fund. A one-page letter of intent to apply is due on December 2, 2011 by 4:30 PM, and may be submitted to Emily Smith.

The Mary Kay Foundation Cancer Research Grants

Grants are awarded each year to researchers at medical schools recommended by the The Mary Kay Foundation Research Review Committee, which is composed of prominent doctors who volunteer their time to help the Foundation select the best recipients across the United States. After reviewing these recommendations, the Board of Directors at the Foundation selects the grant recipients.

Application Deadline: February 3, 2012

Learn More >>

Rita Allen Foundation Scholars

$100,000 per year for up to 5 years for junior faculty who are fully independent and who show extraordinary promise in basic science research in analgesics, cancer, immunology, and neuroscience.

Internal Deadline: December 9, 2011

Learn More >>

(PDF) 

Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award  

$450,000 over 3 years + up to $100,000 of remaining medical school debt will be retired. For junior faculty with the MD or MD/PhD who are conducting patient-oriented cancer research and are capable of moving seamlessly between the laboratory and the patient's bedside in search of breakthrough treatments.  Clinical research includes patient-oriented research, epidemiological and behavioral studies, outcomes research and health services research.

Internal Deadline:  December 9, 2011

(PDF)