Names & News

Jean-Marie Cuillerot has been appointed Vice President and Global Head of Clinical Development at Agenus, Inc, Lexington, US, overseeing ongoing clinical development of checkpoint targeted antibodies, including AGEN1884 targeting CTLA-4 and INCAGN1876 targeting GITR. Dr. Cuillerot was Global Head of Clinical Development, Immuno-Oncology, and Vice President of Clinical Immunotherapy/ Immuno-Oncology at EMD Serono Research and Development…

Anton Berns was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). NAS membership is in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Dr. Berns is the Senior Group Leader of the Division of Molecular Genetics at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, and is a former director of the NKI.

On July 31, 2016, the lung cancer and oncology research community lost a respected researcher and leader, Gregory Curt, MD, who died at the US Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following treatment for cancer at age 64. After graduating summa cum laude from Providence College in 1974, and from the University of Rochester School…

Stefania Vallone has been elected President of Lung Cancer Europe (LuCE), which provides a European platform for already existing lung cancer patient advocacy groups and supports the establishment of national lung cancer patient groups in different European countries where such groups do not yet exist. Ms. Vallone, Italy, is a lung cancer patient advocate, who…

Charles Swanton received the Biochemical Society 2016 GSK prize in recognition of distinguished research leading to new advances in medical science. Prof. Swanton is Professor of Cancer Medicine and Chair of Personalized Cancer Medicine, University College London, UK, and Co-Director, Cancer Research UK Lung Cancer Center of Excellence at University College London, and Manchester University, UK.

Patrick Soon-Shiong has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Altor BioScience Corporation. Dr. Soon- Shiong is the inventor of Abraxane, an albuminbound nanoparticle of paclitaxel approved for lung, breast, and pancreatic cancer. He announced the Cancer MoonShot 2020 Program in January 2016.

Suresh Senan received the 2016 Heine H. Hansen Award, which recognizes a lung cancer investigator who has made a special contribution to lung cancer research and education on an international basis. Prof. Senan is Vice Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is Professor of…

Umberto Ricardi has been elected President- Elect of the European SocieTy for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO). Prof. Ricardi is Full Professor of Radiation Oncology and Chairman of the Radiation Oncology Department, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.

Cathy Pietanza has been appointed Global Director of Scientific Affairs for Oncology in Merck Research Laboratories. Prior to joining Merck, Dr. Pietanza was an Assistant Attending Physician at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, US, on the Thoracic Oncology Service, and also held an appointment at the Weill Cornell Medical College.

Roman Perez-Soler has been named to the US National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) Board of Scientific Counselors for Clinical Sciences and Epidemiology, which provides advice on NCI intramural and extramural research programs. Dr. Perez-Soler is Chairman and Chief, Department of Oncology, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care; Chief and Professor, Division of Medical Oncology, Department of…