E-NEWSLETTER

 

JANUARY 2005 

The IASLC Board and the staff want to wish all the IASLC members a healthy, peaceful and happy New Year!

This is the first IASLC E-Newsletter in the New Year, and we are continuously trying to make improvements for a better Newsletter and communication between the IASLC Board of Directors, The IASLC Executive Staff and the IASLC members. Anything you want to be communicated, please, contact the IASLC Executive Office, att. Pia.hirsch@UCHSC.edu   

 In Memoriam

Daniel C. Ihde, M.D. passed away in December 2004 after a long struggle with a chronic debilitating disease.  He will be sorely missed in the lung cancer research community.  Dan grew up in a little town in Portales New Mexico and went on to receive his M.D. degree from Stanford Medical School.  He was an intern and resident at New York Medical Center and then was a Medical Oncology Fellow at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD.  He then joined the senior staff at the NCI first at the NCI-VA and later NCI-Navy Medical Oncology Branches and then rose in the NCI to the rank of Deputy Director.  From there he went first to Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, MO and later to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL in senior leadership roles related to cancer treatment and clinical trials.  Dan was a major leader in clinical trials related to lung cancer, particularly small cell lung cancer and he was a major innovator in translational research related to lung cancer.  During all of this time running clinical trials at the NCI he was admired and served as a role model as a kind, caring, compassionate physician. He had been a major supporter of the IASLC and received a special award from the organization in 9th World Conference in Tokyo, Sept, 2000.  Dan was highly regarded for his incisive thinking on research questions and his encyclopedic knowledge of the cancer research literature. As part of this he was revered by a generation of oncology fellows for his quick and playful wit.  He authored several hundred peer reviewed articles in this area and was known for his careful, hardworking style always putting substance before form.  He leaves an important legacy of physicians that he mentored over the years in cancer treatment and research.  He is survived by his wife Mary and two sons Steven and Douglas.  Plans are being made for a special recognition at the next IASLC meeting in Spain.

John D. Minna, Paul A. Bunn, Bruce E. Johnson, James L. Mulshine, Adi F. Gazdar  

IASLC Journal:

As have been mentioned earlier, the contract with the publisher of the current IASLC Journal Lung Cancer, was expiring by December 31.2005. After negotiations with several publishers, including the Elsevier, the IASLC Board of Directors have decided to terminate the contract with Elsevier, and a contract with Lippincott Publishers have been made. That means that IASLC from January 1st 2006 will launch a new thoracic oncology journal. The position as a Chief Editor for the new journal has been announced. The selection committee is currently evaluating the applications, and an appointment by the IASLC Board of Directors is expected by March-April 2005.  

IASLC Fellowships:

The dead-line for application for the IASLC Fellowships are January 31st. 2005. For further information, please, see the IASLC web.site: www. iaslc.org  

The World Conference on Lung Cancer, Barcelona, Spain, July 3-6. 2005:

The dead-line for abstract submission is January 31st. 2005. Please, see www.2005worldlungcancer.org  

Names:

Dr. Kell Osterlind, Copenhagen, Denmark has been appointed as a new Head of Department of Oncology, Finsen Center, The National University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen. Dr. Osterlind is well known in the IASLC community and in the lung cancer scientific community especially for his contributions to staging and prognostic factors in small cell lung cancer.  

Grant Opportunities:

The American Lung Association/LUNGevity Foundation has announced grants (up to $ 100.000 per year for up to two years). Dead-line is March 1. 2005.  Please visit webmaster@lungusa.org  

 

Paul A. Bunn, Jr./Fred R. Hirsch