Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announces the following awards and appointments:
Tomya Watt Named to Crain’s New York Business Notable Black Leaders 2022 List
Tomya Watt, Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Mobility, has been named to Crain’s New York Business Notable Black Leaders 2022 list. This list spotlights exceptional Black individuals from various industries who have had a positive impact on New York City through their professional, communal, and philanthropic achievements.
Ms. Watt has restructured MSK’s traditional recruiting operation into a bold, strategic, and innovative team with the goal of designing and implementing a workforce strategy to attract and retain top diverse talent and ultimately ensure that patients feel welcomed and cared for. The Office of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) — which operates under her strategic leadership — provides educational workshops and programs that play an imperative role in fulfilling MSK’s commitment to creating a sense of inclusion and belonging.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Named to Forbes America’s Best Employers List
MSK was named one of the top employers in the country, according to Forbes magazine’s 2022 list of America’s Best Large Employers. MSK placed at no. 4 out of 500 employers with more than 5,000 employees. Forbes created the list in partnership with market research firm Statista and conducted an independent survey of approximately 60,000 Americans working for companies with more than 1,000 workers in the United States.
Three MSK Faculty Members Elected as 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows
Alexandra Joyner, PhD, Member and Developmental Biologist at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), Ming Li, PhD, Member and Immunologist at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), and Kenneth Offit, MD, Chief of MSK’s Clinical Genetics Service and the Robert and Kate Niehaus Chair in Inherited Cancer Genomics, were elected to the 2021 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows.
The new class of AAAS Fellows includes 564 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines worldwide who are being recognized for their scientific and socially distinguished achievements. The AAAS is the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals.
Craig B. Thompson Named to City & State’s 2022 Health Care Power 100 List
Craig B. Thompson, MD, President and CEO, has been named to City & State’s 2022 Health Care Power 100 list, ranking at no. 39. The prestigious Health Care Power list recognizes the most influential public health officials, hospital executives, labor leaders, activists and other influential figures that have shaped New York’s response to the pandemic – and other pressing healthcare matters – over the past year.
Dr. Thompson is recognized for his leadership as MSK developed its own coronavirus test, expanded telemedicine and remote work capabilities and researched how COVID-19 interacts with cancer patients.
Christopher Bourne Awarded the Maximizing Excellence in Research, Innovation, and Technology (MERIT) Sawyers Fellowship
Christopher Bourne, BA, Graduate Student in The David Scheinberg Lab at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), is the recipient of the first Maximizing Excellence in Research, Innovation, and Technology (MERIT) Sawyers Fellowship. The Fellowship is part of MSK’s MERIT initiative, which funds the recruitment and career development of top scientists from racial and ethnic groups that have been historically underrepresented in science. It was created through a philanthropic donation from MSK Physician-Scientist Charles Sawyers and his wife, Susan, to help fund future scientists at multiple educational levels.
Jason S. Lewis Elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering College of Fellows
Jason S. Lewis, PhD, Emily Tow Jackson Chair in Oncology, Vice Chair for Research, Department of Radiology, and Chief, Radiochemistry and Imaging Sciences Service, was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows. Dr. Lewis was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the AIMBE College of Fellows for his groundbreaking work in radiochemistry and molecular imaging and on the clinical translation of novel oncological imaging agents. A formal induction ceremony will be held during AIMBE’s 2022 Annual Event on March 25.
Joseph H. Dayan Honored by New York State Legislature
Joseph H. Dayan, MD, Reconstructive Surgeon, was honored by the New York State Assembly and Senate for his outstanding advocacy, education, and research contributions as a reconstructive microsurgeon and health care professional to the lymphatic community and work with the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN). LE&RN’s mission is to fight lymphatic diseases such as lymphedema, lipedema and lymphatic anomalies through education, research, and advocacy.
Alexander Drilon Receives the Hamoui Foundation/LUNGevity Clinical Research Award
Alexander Drilon, MD, Chief, Early Drug Development Service, receives the first Hamoui Foundation/LUNGevity Clinical Research Award for RET-Positive Lung Cancer. The goal of these awards is to transform the future for those diagnosed with RET-positive lung cancer by changing RET-positive lung cancer into a chronic or curable condition.
The Hamoui Foundation focuses its efforts on a select number of key initiatives to create visible step changes in the organizations they support. LUNGevity Foundation is the nation’s leading lung cancer organization focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, policy initiatives, education, support, and engagement for patients, survivors, and caregivers.
Lorenz Studer Receives the 2022 International Society for Stem Cell Research Achievement Award
Lorenz Studer, MD, Director, Center for Stem Cell Biology at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) received the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2022 Achievement Award. This award recognizes the transformative body of work of an investigator that has had a major impact on the field of stem cell research or regenerative medicine. Dr. Studer will be recognized and will present his research on June 17 during the ISSCR Annual Meeting.
ISSCR is a cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to stem cell research and its translation to the clinic. The ISSCR mission is to promote excellence in stem cell science and applications to human health.
Rico C. Ardy and Zeda Zhang Named Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellows
Rico C. Ardy, PhD, Member and Research Fellow in The Thomas Norman Lab at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), and Zeda Zhang, PhD, Member and Postdoctoral Researcher in The Scott Lowe Lab at Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), were named Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellows.
The Fellowship is awarded to postdoctoral scientists conducting basic and translational cancer research in the laboratories of leading senior investigators and encourages the nation’s most promising young scientists to pursue careers in cancer research by providing them with independent funding to work on innovative projects.
Lisa Bodei and Michael H. Roehrl Receive Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation Awards
Lisa Bodei, MD, PhD, Director, Targeted Radionuclide Therapy, and Michael H. Roehrl, MD, PhD, Director, Precision Pathology Biobanking Center, are recipients of the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) Awards. NETRF grants funds to investigators to support their research to advance the understanding of neuroendocrine cancer and explore new therapeutic avenues for patients.
Dr. Bodei and her team will evaluate which positron emission tomography findings are associated with good or poor treatment outcomes in patients who have a NET and define a standard approach for PRESCIENT (Pet REsponse CrItEria for Neuroendocrine Tumors) for reporting these findings. Dr. Roehrl and his team will examine both primary and metastatic pancreatic NETs to determine which patients are at the highest risk for recurrence or metastases.
Salima Benbarche Receives the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation Harold Spielberg Research Fund Award
Salima Benbarche, PhD, Research Scholar in The Omar Abdel-Wahab Lab of the Human Oncology & Pathogenesis Program (HOPP), is the recipient of the Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation (AAMDSIF) Harold Spielberg Research Fund Award. AAMDSIF supports early career investigators and provides financial support for research that leads to new insights into the causes of bone marrow failure diseases and to the development of new therapeutic approaches.
