Yale Cancer Center (YCC) held its annual Conclave award ceremony virtually on January 26th to celebrate faculty and provider accomplishments 2020. Faculty and staff were honored with clinical and research prizes including the Ruth McCorkle Oncology Advanced Practice Provider Award, the Class of ‘61 Cancer Research Award, and the YCC Lifetime Achievement Award.
Recipient nominations were reviewed by senior leadership and selected in recognition of their outstanding contribution to cancer care and research. The 2020 Conclave awardees are:
- Yale Cancer Center Award for Lifetime Achievement: David Fischer, MD
The award is given annually to a YCC member who has impacted the field of oncology both nationally and internationally. Fischer has practiced medicine for more than 50 years. Among his accomplishments, he helped open the first hospice for cancer patients in the United States, published 30 research papers, was an award-winning teacher and mentor, and held numerous leadership positions at Yale Cancer Center. View video recognition>>
- Yale Cancer Center Award for Teaching Excellence: Joseph Paul Eder, MD
Eder was recognized as a faculty member teaches at all levels and who best exemplifies a culture of teaching and excellence by ensuring trainees acquire the skills they need to develop as outstanding health practitioners, scientists, and researchers.
- Yale Cancer Center Award for Mentorship Excellence: Cary Gross, MD
Gross was cited as “navigating the art of mentorship effectively as the ultimate teacher and coach with timeless energy, respect, and humor.”
- Yale Cancer Center Awards for Clinical Excellence: Thomas Prebet, MD, PhD and Shari Damast, MD
Prebet was recognized for his work as a dedicated clinician, one with hope and optimism as well as a brilliant teacher, mentor and an expert in myeloid malignancies. Damast was given her award for coordinating services for radiation therapy for patients and spearheading the development of a novel program of high-dose brachytherapy for cervical and endometrial cancer patients.
- Class of 1961 Cancer Research Awards: Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, PhD, and Don Nguyen, PhD, BS
Bindra and Nguyen were honored for their significant accomplishments in cancer research at Yale University as young members of the faculty, coupled with the expectation for future outstanding contributions to the causes of cancer and the development of novel cancer treatments.
- Ruth McCorkle Oncology Advanced Practice Provider Award: Jacqueline Dibble, FNP-BC, APRN
The award is given annually to recognize the contributions of Advanced Practice Providers to oncology patient care. Dibble was recognized for her commitment to patient-centered care and mentorship and her positive impact on patient lives.
- Yale Cancer Center Population Science Research Prize: Nicole Deziel, PhD, MHS
Deziel was given her award for her work on the study “Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides and thyroid cancer in Connecticut women,” published in Environmental Research and “Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and a Polybrominated Biphenyl and Risk of Thyroid Cancer in Women: Single and Multi-Pollutant Approaches,” in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
- Yale Cancer Center Translational Science Research Prizes: Aaron Ring, MD, PhD, Peter M. Glazer, MD, PhD, and Ranjit S. Bindra, MD, PhD
Ring was honored for his paper in Nature, “IL-18BP is a secreted immune checkpoint and barrier to IL-18 immunotherapy,” and Glazer and Bindra were recognized for their study, also in the journal Nature, “Oncometabolites suppress DNA repair by disrupting local chromatin signaling.”
- Yale Cancer Center Clinical Science Research Prize: Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD
Herbst was honored for two New England Journal of Medicine manuscripts, “Atezolizumab for First-line Treatment of PD-L1–selected Patients with NSCLC,” and “Osimertinib in Resected EGFR-Mutated Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer.”
- Yale Cancer Center Basic Science Research Prize: Akiko Iwasaki, PhD
Iwasaki was awarded for her work in the journal Nature, “VEGF-C-driven lymphatic drainage enables immunosurveillance of brain tumors.”
A full list of past Conclave awardees can be found here at: https://www.yalecancercenter.org/research/excellence/awards/conclave/