Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announces the following awards and appointments:
Sungmin Woo Selected for the National Academy of Medicine Scholars Program
Sungmin Woo, MD, PhD, radiologist, Director of Genitourinary Radiology, has been selected for the 2022–23 National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Scholars in Diagnostic Excellence program, a tremendous honor reserved for only a handful of mid-career professionals. This is the first time that a member of MSK’s faculty has been selected for this prestigious program. Dr. Woo was one of just 11 scholars in the nation who received this remarkable honor, for which candidates from a broad range of medical disciplines and professions were considered. The program is designed to advance equity and develop a cadre of leaders who can drive the reduction of diagnostic errors at the national level.
Tomya Watt Received the 2022 Moves Diversity Mentor Award From ‘Moves’ Magazine
Tomya Watt, Chief Diversity Office and Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Mobility, received the 2022 Moves Diversity Mentor Award from Moves magazine. This award recognizes executives with significant success in nurturing, counseling, and sponsoring their protégés and highlights the role individual women leaders play in shaping and forming the next generation.
Richard Gilbertson Named 2022 Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize Recipient for Contributions in Pediatric Oncology
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) announced that pediatric oncologist Richard Gilbertson, MBBS, PhD, of the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, has been named the 2022 recipient of The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize. The award was presented to Dr. Gilbertson at the Gerstner Sloan Kettering (GSK) Convocation on May 18, 2022. The Society Prize is a global recognition that is awarded annually to a researcher, physician, or team lead who has made a positive and lasting impact in the fight against pediatric cancer. The award is accompanied by a $25,000 cash prize. Dr. Gilbertson was selected as this year’s recipient for his contributions and discoveries that have impacted children with cancer, including the developmental origins of childhood brain tumors that have not only led to an understanding of the molecular and cellular origins of these tumors but that also have impacted clinical outcomes through risk-stratified treatments and new targeted therapeutic options.
John Chodera and Dinshaw Patel Received NIAID Antiviral Drug Development Awards
John Chodera, PhD, computational chemist, and Dinshaw Patel, PhD, structural biologist — both from Sloan Kettering Institute (SKI) — have received awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to help establish nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. Dr. Chodera will lead, in part with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative and PostEra, a center project named the AI-Driven Structure-Enabled Antiviral Platform. Dr. Patel will be part of a core team in collaboration with Hackensack University Medical Center, working on the Metropolitan AntiViral Drug Accelerator project.
Kristen Fessele Received the 2022 Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators
Kristen Fessele, Senior Nurse Scientist, received the 2022 Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators, from the UC Davis Betty Irene School of Nursing. The fellowship is a national program to develop the next generation of nurse leaders and innovators. The fellowship program recognizes and advances early- to mid-career nursing scholars and innovators with a high potential to accelerate leadership in nursing-science research, practice, education, policy, and entrepreneurship.
Kelsey Maguire Received Outstanding Graduate Award From Belmont University School of Nursing
Kelsey Maguire, BSN, RN, PCCN, registered nurse at MSK and master’s candidate at the Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing and the Hunter College of Urban Policy & Planning, was recognized as an Outstanding School of Nursing Graduate from the Belmont University School of Nursing. Maguire was awarded this honor at an event on May 14.
William E. Rosa Received the 2022 Loretta C. Ford Award for Advancement of the Nurse Practitioner Role in Health Care
William E. Rosa, postdoctoral research fellow in psycho-oncology, was awarded the 2022 Loretta C. Ford Award for Advancement of the Nurse Practitioner Role in Health Care. This award is presented by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) to a nurse practitioner (NP) who demonstrates participation in healthcare policy development at an international, national, or local level; sustained and specific contribution to clarification of the role and scope of practice of NPs; or creative and effective action that turns a challenge to the NP role into an effective opportunity to advance practice and improve patient outcomes.
13 MSK Nurses and a Nursing Team Recognized With the 2022 Robbins Family Award for Nursing Excellence
Thirteen distinguished MSK nurses and one nursing team were recognized with the 2022 Robbins Family Award for Nursing Excellence. The Robbins Family Foundation has sponsored the awards to honor MSK nurses’ extraordinary achievements and contributions to MSK’s mission and core values.
The following MSK nurses were recognized for their outstanding service: Thomas Bracken, MA, RN, OCN, Clinical Nurse IV; Megan Graham, DHP, AGPCNP-BC, RN, OCN, Nurse Practitioner; Caroline Clark, MSN, RN, OCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist; Jennifer O’gilvie, MSN, RN, NE-BC, Clinical Supervisor; Melissa Zimmermann, MS, BSN, RN-BC, Nursing Informatics Specialist; Kameelah Brown, MSN, RN, OCN, Nursing Professional Development Specialist; DaShawn Gadsden, Unit Assistant; Brian Kelly, Chaplain. The following members of the Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Team were also recognized for their Excellence in Collaboration: Nora Love, MS, RN, CNS, OCN, Clinical Nurse Specialist; Amy Caramore, BSN, RN, CEN, Quality Management Nurse; Kathleen McAllan, BSN, RN, PCCN, Interim Nurse Leader; Jessica Leone, BSN, RN, PCCN, Clinical Nurse III; and Likhita Kanneganti, Data Analyst, Nursing Quality
Francesca M. Gany Received the 2022 United Hospital Fund Excellence in Health Care Award
Francesca M. Gany, MD, MS, Chief of the Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, was awarded a 2022 Excellence in Health Care Award. The Excellence in Health Care Award was established in 2019 by the United Hospital Fund to honor extraordinary personal leadership to improve quality of care, patient safety, and patient experience. Honorees are selected for their vision and accomplishments by participating hospital systems, long-term care facilities, home care organizations, independent practice associations, and federally qualified health centers from across the greater New York metropolitan region.
Luis Alberto Diaz, Jr., Inducted Into Giants of Cancer Care Class of 2022
Luis Alberto Diaz, Jr., MD, medical oncologist, Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, and Grayer Family Chair, was elected to the 10th class of Giants of Cancer Care® for his contributions to translational science. Dr. Diaz is one of 14 inductees this year whose body of work was considered by a committee of more than 120 oncologists, clinicians, and researchers. Giants of Cancer Care® recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made remarkable achievements in oncology research and clinical practice.
Sarah Lindner Received the 2022 John Hansen Research Grant
Sarah Lindner, MD, research fellow, received the 2022 John Hansen Research Grant. Each year, the John Hansen Research Grant is awarded by DKMS to a young scientist in order to secure medical progress in the field of stem cell transplantation and cell therapy for the future. Dr. Lindner’s research aims to contribute to a better understanding of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).
Jessica Agostini Received the 2022 Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) Emerging Leader Award 2022
Jessica Agostini, BSN, RN, CCRN, Clinical Nurse III, received the 2022 Emerging Leader Award from the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). ONS recognizes oncology nurses, employers, and researchers through their award program.
Elli Papaemmanouil and Santosha A. Vardhana Received the 2022 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards
Elli Papaemmanouil, PhD, molecular geneticist, and Santosha A. Vardhana, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, received the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards. Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Awards are granted to investigators who have innovative ideas that have the potential to significantly advance the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of cancer.
Marcel R.M. van den Brink Received the 2022 E. Donnall Thomas Award
Marcel R.M. van den Brink, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Head of the Division of Hematologic Malignancies, and Alan N. Houghton Chair, received the E. Donnall Thomas Award at the annual Tandem Meetings on Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, hosted from April 23 to April 26. The award, conferred by the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), was accompanied by a lecture presented by Dr. van den Brink. The discussion focused on his latest data regarding the role of the gut microbiome in patients undergoing an allogeneic blood stem cell transplantation or CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy.