FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 29, 2009

CONTACT: Aaron Tallent
571-483-1371
aaron.tallent@asco.org

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The ASCO Cancer Foundation (TACF) announced today the recipients of the 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Awards. Twenty-six young scientists from around the globe will be honored for their outstanding contributions to breast cancer research. The awards will be presented at the Symposium, taking place October 8-10 in San Francisco.

“This year’s Merit Awards recipients represent the future of clinical oncology research, treatment and patient care,” said Jay R. Harris, MD, Chair of the 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium Steering Committee and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “We are proud to recognize these innovative young researchers for their commitment to advancing breast cancer research and hope these awards will help further their work.”

The ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Awards are designed to promote clinical research by oncology fellows and provide them the opportunity to present their research and interact with other clinical investigators at the meeting. This year’s awardees were selected based on the scientific merit of their abstracts and will receive funding to assist with their travel expenses to attend the Symposium.

The Breast Cancer Symposium is a two-and-a-half day scientific and educational meeting featuring presentations on the latest multidisciplinary research from selected, theme-based translational and clinical abstracts, as well as related educational sessions. Co-sponsors of 2009 Breast Cancer Symposium include the American Society of Breast Disease, The American Society of Breast Surgeons, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the National Consortium of Breast Centers and The Society of Surgical Oncology.

The 2009 ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Awards are supported through restricted educational grants from Novartis Oncology, Aptium Oncology, GE Healthcare and OSI Oncology.

2009 Breast Cancer Symposium Merit Awards Recipients

Tarek M. Abdel-Fatah University of Nottingham	Mariana Chavez-Mac Gregor, MD, MSc University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Todd A. Swanson, MD, PhD William Beaumont Hospital	Heather L. McArthur, MD, MPH Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Iwa Kong, MD, FRCPC Odette Cancer Centre	Partha S. Ray, MD John Wayne Cancer Institute
Larissa J. Lee, MD Harvard Radiation Oncology Program	Amit Goyal Cardiff University
Candace R. Correa, MD University of Michigan Medical Center	Aditya Bardia, MD, MPH Johns Hopkins University
Bedanta P. Baruah, MBBS University Hospital of Wales	Conleth Murphy Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Sekwon Jang, MD University of Minnesota	Swati Kulkarni, MD, FRCPC Cancer Centre of SE Ontario, Queen's University
Nathaniel P. Reuter, MD, MPH University of Louisville	Rajni Sethi, MD New York University Langone Medical Center
Shari B. Goldfarb, MD Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center	Mark Jesus Magbanua, PhD University of California San Francisco
Saira Nasim, MRCP Odette Cancer Centre	Frederik Marme, MD University Hospital Heidelberg
Laura S. Dominici, MD University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center	Samer .I Schuman, MD University of Miami - Jackson Memorial Hospital
Charles B. Simone, MD National Cancer Institute	Nabil Wasif, MD John Wayne Cancer Institute
Simone Schrading, MD Department of Radiology, University of Bonn	Luke J. Peppone, PhD University of Rochester

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About The ASCO Cancer Foundation
The ASCO Cancer Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The Foundation harnesses the knowledge of ASCO’s more than 27,000 oncology and healthcare providers to improve the treatment and survivorship of people living with cancer. Our funding of breakthrough research, education, and quality improvement programs in cancer care gives patients and caregivers powerful resources to address the disease. Through these efforts, we improve the lives of those impacted by cancer.