Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) today announced the following awards and appointments:
Tobias M. Hohl, MD, PhD, Chief, infectious disease service, was elected to the 2022 class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows. The AAAS is the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. AAAS Fellows are nominated and elected by current AAAS members in a tradition that stretched back to 1874. The new class of AAAS Fellows includes 505 engineers, and innovators spanning across all disciplines worldwide who are being recognized for their scientific and socially distinguished achievements, including research, teaching, excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public, and administration in academia, industry, and government. This title is one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community and is designed to recognize leaders for their notable contributions to science.
Alexander Rudensky, PhD, immunologist, of Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI), has been named a 2023 Distinguished Fellow by the American Association of Immunologist (AAI). He is one of 19 immunologists being recognized with this honor. The program, established in 2019, annually recognizes members for distinguished careers and outstanding scientific contributions as well as service to AAI and the immunology community. This program also recognizes members for distinguished careers and outstanding scientific contributions as well as their service to AAI and the immunology community. It honors active, long-term members (25 or more years) who have demonstrated one or more of the following: excellence in research accomplishment in the field of immunology; exceptional leadership to the immunology community in academia, foundations, nonprofits, industry, or government at a national or international level; notable distinction as an educator. Election as a Distinguished Fellow occurs annually and is among the highest honors bestowed by AAI.
Selwyn M. Vickers, MD, FACS, President and CEO at MSK, was named to City & State’s 2023 Health Care Power 100. He ranked #33 on this year’s list. City & State’s Health Care Power 100 sheds light on decision-markers in the medical world in New York, including prominent public officials, influential hospital and health care executives, head of other nonprofit providers, union leaders, academic and an array of advocates and activist who take their case to Albany and City Hall. This years’ ranking considered the legislative victories, labor battles, newly launched initiatives, and other noteworthy developments from the past 12 months.
MSK Received Press Ganey’s 2022 Human Experience Pinnacle of Excellence Award and Guardian of Excellence Award
MSK was awarded Press Ganey’s 2022 Pinnacle of Excellence Award in the Patient Experience category. The award recognizes healthcare institutions that have maintained consistently high levels of excellence over three years in patient experience, employee engagement, physicians’ engagement, or clinical quality performance. Additionally, MSK was also recognized with the 2022 Guardian of Excellence Award. This honor is given annually based on one year of data and honors organizations that have reached the 95th percentile for patient experience, engagement, or clinical quality performance. Since 2015, MSK has been honored by Press Ganey for providing an outstanding patient experience. Press Ganey is a leading research firm and strategic partner organization that evaluates patient satisfaction.
MSK Named One of America’s Top 100 Charities of 2022 List by Forbes
Forbes named MSK as one of America’s Top 100 Charities in 2022. The Forbes list reflects the most recently reported fiscal year for each charity and the rankings are based solely on private contributions. Government grants, payments for services and investment returns don’t count, though each organization’s total revenue is noted.
MSK Named to “America’s Greatest Workplaces 2023 for Diversity” List by Newsweek
Newsweek named MSK one of America’s Greatest Workplaces 2023 for Diversity. Newsweek and market data research firm Plant-A Insight based their scoring on their review of publicly available data, interviews with HR professional and an anonymous online survey of a diverse pool of employees at companies with 1,000 or more employees in the U.S. Respondents were asked questions about corporate culture, working environment and other subjects at both their own companies and companies they were familiar with. The winning companies were grouped by six main economic sectors and 34 industries.
MSK Physicians Named to Castle Connolly Top Doctor 2023 List
Castle Connolly released its Castle Connolly Top Doctors 2023 annual list and this year, 244 MSK physicians have been recognized with this distinction. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Castle Connolly Top Doctors. Castle Connolly Top Doctors are nominated by their peers, and the Castle Connolly research team evaluates important criteria to determine who makes the list, including professional qualifications, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, disciplinary history, interpersonal skills and outcomes data.
Samuel F. Bakhoum, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist, was awarded the Emerging Leader Award from The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research. Dr. Bakhoum received the award for his project, “Examining the link between chromosomal and epigenetic reprogramming in cancer”. The award supports innovative cancer research from the next generation of leaders and are awarded to outstanding early career investigators to support high-impact, high risk projects that are distinct from their current research portfolio.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) announced the 2022 Class of PCF Team Challenge Award recipients and a total of more than $12 million in funding for innovative prostate cancer research. Project leaders Howard I. Scher, MD, medical oncologist, Head of Biomarker Development Program, and D. Wayne Calloway Chair in Urologic Oncology, Behfar Ehdaie, MD, MPH, and David Knorr, MD, PhD are recipients for their project, “Enhancing Antigen Presentation and Anti-Tumor Immunity for Prostate Cancers through an Intratumorally Delivered, Fc-Enhanced Anti-CD40 Antibody Therapy”. The PCF Challenge Awards fund international, multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary teams of investigators conducting highly innovative research with the greatest potential for accelerating new and improved treatments for advanced prostate cancer. Following a rigorous peer review process that assessed each project’s scientific merit and potential patient impact, 15 highly coveted PCF Challenge Awards were granted to teams at some of the world’s leading cancer research institutions.
Urvi A. Shah, MD, hematologic oncologist, has been named a recipient of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2023 Scholar Award. One of ASH’s most prestigious research award programs, the ASH Scholar Awards support early career investigators dedicated to careers in hematology research as they transition from training programs to careers as independent investigators. Each Scholar Award provides $100,000 for the Fellow level, $125,000 for the Fellow to Faculty Scholars level, or $150,000 for the Junior Faculty level. The program funds hematologists in the United States and Canada who conduct basic, translational, and clinical research that furthers the understanding and treatment of blood disorders.
Rekha Parameswaran, MD, hematologic oncologist, was appointed to the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Stewardship and Systems-Based Hematology Subcommittee. Members of the Subcommittee on Stewardship and Systems-Based Hematology, including the Chair, serve staggered two-year renewable terms. Members of the Subcommittee are required to participate in email discussions, regularly scheduled conference calls, and meet in-person as deemed necessary. Individual projects are overseen by working groups comprised of a subset of members of the Subcommittee.
Mark D. EwaIt, MD, pathologist, Program Director, Molecular Genetic Testing Pathology Fellowship, was appointed to the 2023 American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Test Development and Advisory Committee (TDAC) for Molecular Genetic Pathology. The Committee is responsible for developing and reviewing the ABPath certification exam questions that assess and certify a physician’s education, knowledge, experience, and skills in order to provide high-quality care in the pathology profession.
Jennifer Liu, MD, FACC, has been appointed Chief of the Cardiology Service at MSK. Members of the Cardiology Service care for patients who have existing cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular disease resulting from cancer or cancer therapies, and those who are at a high risk of developing a cardiac condition during cancer treatment.