Archive for category: Latest News

Photo of Dr. Norm Coleman and Paul Kaplan

Announcing the establishment of an ICEC Mentorship Endowment fund by Paul Kaplan

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Paul Kaplan, son of Dr. Henry Kaplan and Leah Lebeson Kaplan, passed away in June 2021 from cancer. Prior to his death, Paul had demonstrated a decades-long interest in human service and cancer care to the underserved globally.

Paul Kaplan, in discussions with his sister Ann Kaplan and her husband, Robert Spears, and through them, with Norm Coleman, generously bequeathed a portion of his estate to the International Cancer Expert Corps Mentorship Program. Paul, who had a nearly 40-year long friendship with Norm, designated that the fund would be named the C. Norman Coleman / Paul Kaplan Endowment Fund for Mentorship.

Purpose of the Endowment Fund for Mentorship

The purpose of the Mentorship Fund is to serve as an RFA granting mechanism to accelerate the development of improving cancer care in LMIC by developing programs that enhance care delivery and outcome.

Dr. Coleman and Dr. Grover

Dr. Norman Coleman, MD, Senior Scientific Advisor ICEC, NIH-NCI with Dr. Surbhi Grover, MD MPH Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology | University of Pennsylvania, Princess Marina Hospital, Gaborone, Botswana

A broad number of programs are eligible for funding, including mentoring programs, enhanced treatment delivery approaches, technological development, or other efforts that will enhance cancer care and network building. Cancer screening and prevention, although of great importance, are not the objectives of this initial pilot initiative. For this pilot initiative, radiation oncology-related projects are preferred. ICEC has a specific interest in helping to develop careers in global oncology, especially for young investigators.

 

Taiofeeq Ige, Medical Physicist training colleagues in Nigeria

Taofeeq Abdallah Ige, PHD, FIOMP, Chief Consultant Physicist Radiation Safety Advisor Abuja, Nigeria with trainees

APPLICATIONS are being accepted now!

Information about the application process, including eligibility, application due dates, review process and award notification, is available on the ICEC Coleman/Kaplan Grant Opportunity webpage.

 

 

 

 

ICEC Mentoring Relationships

Harmar Brereton, MD, ICEC with Onyinye Balogun, MD, Assistant Professor Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology  and Silvia Formenti, MD, Chairman, Department of Radiation Oncology Weill Cornell Medical College

Read about a few of ICEC’s Mentoring Programs in the BMJ Global Health article, “Capturing Acquired Wisdom, Enabling Healthful Aging, and Building Multinational Partnerships Through Senior Global Health Mentorship”

 

Emphasizing the critical importance of EXPERTISE

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A Broad Impact for Global Oncology
JAMA Oncology, August 8, 2019. Co-authors from International Cancer Expert Corps

Emphasizing the critical importance of EXPERTISE, the article, “A Broad Impact for Global Oncology” available at the bottom of this post and online at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/fullarticle/2747881, emphasizes the breadth of opportunities for global oncology. The critical need for mentorship is a driving force of ICEC with the creation of a career path being essential.  The breadth of expertise required- noted on the ICEC website- creates an opportunity for many participants in all stages of their careers.

Figure 1 from the paper includes all that can be accomplished, requiring global partnerships, innovative thinking and built up Expertise.

The paper concludes: “The size and complexity of the problems present a grand challenge worthy of the best minds and transformational approaches, often requiring partnerships that have the potential for common projects even among countries and neighbors who have political conflicts. How could one not want to eradicate cancer and its deleterious impact? The Figure provides the components and benefits of a systems approach that supports leading-edge science and technology but, critically, pays attention to those populations historically and currently left behind in the trailing-edge turbulence of inequality. In this way, creativity, innovation, altruism, and commitment can bring rewarding results.”

The critical need for mentorship is a driving force of ICEC with the creation of a career path being essential.  The breadth of expertise required- noted on the ICEC website- creates an opportunity for many participants in all stages of their careers.

A Broad Impact for Global Oncology

Job opportunity with the IAEA

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Great opportunity to work at the IAEA! A 2-year global health position is for a Junior professional (JPO) in the Division of Human Health (NAHU) supported through the US government.   Click here for job listing. Apply through Argonne National labs.

April 30th deadline!

 

“I think the message is very simple: it’s wasteful not to invest in health”

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The alarming report released by the WHO details the staggering drain that disease has on the African economy. It projects that by 2030, the loss in GDP could be almost $1.7 trillion unless ambitious goals to increase the investment in health care improvement are met. The report also highlights the large percentage (37%) that non-communicable diseases account for in this burden. The necessary shift to translate political commitments into investment is possible by implementing changes not only to treat disease but to promote good health and prevention.
Read more…

Changing the Global Radiation Therapy Paradigm

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Read the recent journal article  “Changing the global radiation therapy paradigm”, written by ICEC Chief Scientific Program Director, David A. Pistenmaa and others, published in Radiotherapy and Oncology.   Filling the gap in cancer care in underserved regions worldwide requires global collaboration and concerted effort to share creative ideas, pool talents and develop sustainable support from governments, industry, academia and non-governmental organizations. Comprehensive cancer care, which fits within and strengthens the broader healthcare system, ranges from prevention to screening, to curative treatment, to palliative care and to long-term follow-up. Radiation therapy is an essential component for curative and palliative cancer care and can serve as a stable focal point physically and for personnel around which regional cancer and health care programs can be established. Read the article…

Radiotherapy and Oncology logo

Bridging the Gap: working to bring state-of-the-art radiation therapy to challenging environments

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The International Cancer Expert Corps, in a cooperative effort with CERN and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council STFC, is undertaking an initiative to develop innovative, robust and affordable medical linear accelerators for use in low- to middle-income countries.  The article, “Bridging the Gap”, January 15, 2018, CERN COURIER, outlines the history of this project including the recent participation of representatives from Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries in an effort to ensure their particular needs regarding power systems, safety, operability and maintenance are addressed. Read the article…

Participating individuals from ICEC, CERN and STFC, along with experts in accelerator design, medical physics and oncology,  convened in late March, in Manchester, England near the STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory to review the program status and plan for the next phase of development. Watch this space for updates.

 

A Check Up on U.S. Global Health Policy, After One Year of the Trump Administration

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Kaiser Family Foundation takes stock of the U.S. global health response after the first year of the Trump Presidency and looks ahead to the global health policy issues that are likely to have our attention. One interesting fact garnered from a recent KFF poll, is that about a half of the public still wants the U.S to play a major or leading roll in improving health in developing countries. 

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