FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 14, 2010

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The ASCO Cancer Foundation will present Merit Awards to twenty-five leading oncology fellows from around the world at the 2010 Gastrointestinal (GI) Cancers Symposium, which takes place January 22-24 in Orlando. These bright, young minds will be honored for their exceptional contributions to the research of gastrointestinal tract cancers.

“The future of clinical cancer research rests in our young leaders and we are honored to recognize this year’s Merit Award recipients for their dedication and contributions,” said Leonard L. Gunderson, MD, chair of the GI Symposium Steering Committee. “We hope these awards will help advance their commitment to improving care and quality of life for people living with gastrointestinal cancers.”

The ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Awards are designed to promote clinical cancer research by young scientists. This year’s awardees were selected based on the scientific merit of their abstracts and they will have the opportunity to present their research and interact with other clinical investigators at the meeting. Recipients will receive funding to help with travel expenses to attend the Symposium.

This year’s Symposium will feature more than 500 abstracts on a variety of gastrointestinal cancers including cancers of the esophagus, stomach, hepatobiliary, pancreas, small bowel, colon and rectum. These cancers are diagnosed in approximately 275,000 people, and are responsible for more than 135,000 deaths in the U.S. every year.

Four leading medical specialty societies co-sponsor the three-day, multidisciplinary meeting including the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO).

The 2010 ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Awards are supported through restricted educational grants from Novartis Oncology, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer Oncology and sanofi-aventis.

2010 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium Merit Award Recipients

Thomas Winder, MD University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center	Winson Y. Cheung, MD, MPH Division of Medical Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Agency
Ajay V. Maker, MD Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center	Kavitha P. Raj, MD University of California, Irvine
Ewout F.W. Courrech Staal, MD The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital	Shaun P. Mckenzie, MD City of Hope National Medical Center
Cecile Ortholan, MD Centre Antoine-Lacassagne	Maria Simona Pino, MD Massachusetts General Hospital
Yasir M. Akmal, MD City of Hope National Medical Center	Benjamin P. Negin, MD Fox Chase Cancer Center
Anne Marie Espinoza, MD University of California, San Francisco	Ioannis T. Konstantinidis, MD Massachusetts General Hospital
Anubha Bharthuar, MD Roswell Park Cancer Institute	Chakri Panjala, MD Mayo Clinic
Rachna T. Shroff, MD University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center	Yongping Liu, MD Clinical Oncology Laboratory, Changzhou Tumor Hospital Affiliated to Medical School of Suzhou University
Sujatha Nallapareddy, MD University of Colorado Denver	Ann Tan, MD Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Suresh Chand Sanchetee, MD, MBBS Rajasthan Cancer Cure Hospital	Terence Marques Williams, MD, PhD University of Michigan
Maria Yi Ho, MD British Columbia Cancer Agency	Xin-Rong Yang Liver Cancer Institute, Zhong Shan Hospital and Shanghai Medical School, Fudan University
Peter Joel Hosein, MD University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center	Jason Michael Samuelian, BS Mayo Clinic Arizona
Debashish Bose, MD, PhD The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center