West Virginia University Libraries will host a reception on Tuesday, October 10, at 5 p.m. in the Health Sciences Pylons Area to celebrate the opening of Bodies of Truth: An Artist’s Creative Exploration through Cancer, an exhibition of artwork by Lacie Wallace.
Nearly 200 physicians, physician assistants, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare providers from West Virginia University and the surrounding region participated in the 27th Annual Fall Cancer Conference “Translating Personalized Medicine into Cancer Care” at Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown on October 6.
Linda Vona-Davis, Ph.D., director of the Biomedical Master of Science in Health Sciences Program at West Virginia University, was surprised and delighted to see 65 of her colleagues at her recent presentation. Before the standing-room-only crowd, she discussed her latest research into how adipose-derived stem cells, which originate in fat, influence the activity of breast cancer cells.
Many thanks to the WVU women’s soccer team and their fans who came out to watch the Mountaineers beat Oklahoma 5-1 during the “pink” game at Dick Dlesk Stadium in Morgantown on October 8. The game was an opportunity for both the team and fans to join the WVU Cancer Institute and WVU Medicine to raise breast cancer awareness and support the fight against breast cancer. Cancer Institute Director Rich Goldberg, representatives of the Betty Puskar Breast Care Center and the Bonnie Wells Wilson Mobile Mammography Program (Bonnie’s Bus), and assistant women’s soccer coach Marisa Kanela were called to the field for halftime recognition and an announcement that the Mountaineers raised nearly $9,000 for the Cancer Institute’s Betty Puskar Breast Care Center during the team’s annual spring fundraiser. Additionally, Mountaineer fans donated more than $1,300 in exchange for official pink Mountaineer T-shirts. Their donations will support the Breast Cancer Program Enhancement Fund at the Cancer Institute.
Congratulations to the WVU Clinical trials Research Unit (CTRU) and Dr. Adham Salkeni, WVU’s principal investigator for the NRG Oncology group, the largest clinical trials collaborative network in the United States. During the recent biannual meeting of the NRG, our CTRU was recognized as among the top ten main member sites to enroll the most patients on cancer clinical trials between January and June 2017. “This places WVU on the national map for clinical trials accrual,” Salkeni said. “This shows that we offer state-of-the-art research studies that examine the role of targeted therapies for the treatment of a wide variety of cancers that affect our patient population.”
Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) program staff won two first place ribbons at the 2017 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Cancer Conference in Atlanta this August. They were invited to present three posters for the overall National conference and an oral presentation for the CDC Colorectal Cancer Control Program Meeting. Two posters, noted below, won first place ribbons.
The WVU Cancer Institute, WVU Medicine and WVU Athletics are teaming up on several “Pink” events to raise breast cancer awareness in October.
The WVU Cancer Institute has undertaken a massive expansion effort to meet the demand for cancer services in West Virginia. The growth includes recruiting 38 new cancer specialists by 2020 as well as increasing space for patient care.
The Comprehensive Breast Care Program at the WVU Cancer Institute has again been granted a full three-year accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, a program administered by the American College of Surgeons.
