E-Newsletter - November 2025
Spotlight on Alliance Awards
 


Featured Lectures Honor Excellence and Innovation at 2025 Alliance Fall Group Meeting

At the 2025 Alliance Fall Group Meeting, several lectures recognized the achievements of Alliance members, honoring individuals whose clinical, translational, and psychosocial research continues to elevate standards of care across the cancer research community.

2025 Richard L. Schilsky Cancer and Leukemia Group B Achievement Award

Richard Stone, MD
Lunder Family Chair in Leukemia
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Chief of Staff, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Director, Translational Research Leukemia Division of Medical Oncology

Dr. Stone is the 2025 recipient of the Richard L. Schilsky Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) Achievement Award. Established in 2010, the award is presented annually to recognize the 15-year tenure of Dr. Schilsky as Group Chair of the legacy CALGB and honors individuals who have significant contributions to cooperative group research, shaping Alliance into a stronger organization through leadership or other impactful contributions. 

Dr. Stone’s research focuses on adult acute and chronic leukemias, myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms. He has played a pivotal role in both translational and clinical research that has advanced new therapies for these conditions. His laboratory investigates the mechanisms of leukemic cell differentiation, explores novel targeted therapeutic strategies, and examines the molecular and genetic drivers of disease progression. In addition, Dr. Stone’s work includes developing innovative clinical trial designs to optimize treatment approaches and improves outcomes for patients with high-risk hematologic malignancies. His lecture was titled “CALGB/Alliance: Make Friends, Enhance Cancer, Cure Cancer.”

Photo caption: Drs. Richard Stone and Eva Galanis

24th Annual Jimmie Holland Lecture

Sharon Manne, PhD, FABMR, FSBM
Professor, Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Director, Joint Office of Faculty Mentorship, Rutgers Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Co-Director, Cancer Survivorship and Outcomes Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute

Dr. Manne is the recipient of this year’s Jimmie Holland Lecture, sponsored by the Alliance Health Outcomes Committee. Established to honor pioneering contributions of Jimmie Holland, MD, to psycho-oncology within the CALGB/Alliance, the lectureship recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions in the field and advanced Dr. Holland’s legacy.

Dr. Manne’s career spans decades of impactful research, clinical leadership, and mentorship, reflecting the values of Dr. Holland. She trained with Dr. Holland at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is a founding co-director of the Cancer Survivorship and Outcomes Center. An internationally recognized expert in psychological interventions for patients with cancer and their families, Dr. Manne’s work has transformed the understanding and support of the psychosocial needs of cancer survivors. Her research focuses on developing and testing evidence-based interventions to improve coping, mental health, and quality of life for patients and caregivers across the cancer continuum. In addition, she investigates communication strategies, health behavior change, survivorship care planning, and the role of psychosocial factors in treatment adherence and clinical outcomes, helping to shape comprehensive approaches to cancer care. Her lecture was titled “Behavioral Interventions for Cancer Survivors and Their Family Members.”

Photo caption: Drs. Sharon Manne and Michelle Naughton, of the Alliance Health Outcomes Committee
 

CCP Worta McCaskill-Stevens, MD, MS, Symposium

The Alliance Cancer Control Program (CCP) Education and Training Workgroup hosted the annual Worta McCaskill-Stevens, MD, MS Symposium providing both SOCRA and ONA continuing education credits. The 2025 symposium, “Change Makers Redefining Clinical Trials,” was moderated by Matthew Banegas, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. The symposium encouraged attendees to view change as an opportunity to advance meaningful research. Speakers provided updates on the accrual of congressionally mandated populations in clinical studies and highlighted successes achieved at an Alliance member institution. They also discussed strategies to engage—and ensure the participation of—representative populations in clinical trials.

Electra Paskett, PhD, of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed, "Accrual of Populations to Clinical Research: Updates to Congressional Mandates."

Peggy Kemeny, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Linda Bulone, RN, OCN, CCRC, of Queens Hospital Cancer Center, presented a lecture titled, "Creating a Cancer Research Center in a Public Hospital – Queens Hospital Cancer Center Experience."

Lucy Gansauer, MSN, RN, OCN, CCRP, with the SWOG Cancer Research Network, discussed, "How to Improve Clinical Trial Participation."

Photo caption: From left, Linda Bulone, Dr. Peggy Kemeny, Lucy Gansauer, and Dr. Electra Paskett

 

 

 

 


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