June 3, 2024 - Narratives Special Issue (View All Issues)
From a Small Town in Lebanon, a Young Doctor Follows His Passion to an International Career in Cancer Research
Philip A. Salem, MD, Director Emeritus of Cancer Research at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Houston, was born and reared in Bterram, a village that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. “I had the most beautiful and blessed childhood, as I lived in a household dominated by a father who believed in the...
Narratives in Oncology Through the Years
Beginning in 2012, The ASCO Post introduced Narratives in Oncology, a special commemorative issue profiling several of the many leaders in the oncology community.
Over the past dozen years, many in the oncology community have been profiled in this special issue. A complete list of individuals...
Multicultural ASCO President-Elect Was Raised in Mexico by Parents Who Instilled a Sense of Duty to Make a Difference
ASCO President-Elect Eric J. Small, MD, FASCO, developed much of his multicultural world view during his childhood in Mexico City. “My parents were expatriates who moved to Mexico in the 1950s and settled there. I was born in Mexico City and grew up bilingually. I went to an English-Spanish...
FDA’s Crowdsourcing Initiative to Benefit Patient-Centric Clinical Trial Innovation
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE) recently announced a new initiative called “Project 5 in 5.” Project 5 in 5 is a crowdsourcing initiative to ultimately identify five clinically relevant questions that can be answered through use of pragmatic...
A Daughter of First-Generation Immigrants Follows Their Can-Do Philosophy in Her Research Efforts in Hematologic Oncology
Leukemia expert Eunice S. Wang, MD, is the daughter of first-generation immigrants, whose work ethos inspired in her a world without boundaries. “My parents were born in China during the communist era, and they immigrated to Taiwan when the communists took over in the 1940s and then subsequently...
A Mother’s Encouragement and a Husband-Wife Doctor Team Set the Stage for a Career in Hematologic Oncology
Lymphoma expert Jane N. Winter, MD, grew up on the south shore of Long Island in New York. “My dad sold cars in my great uncle’s dealership after a failed foray into business after World War II. My mom graduated high school at 16 to go to work to help support her family. When my younger brother...
The National Cancer Act of 1971 Inspired a Career in Service to and Advocacy for Patients With Cancer
ASCO President for the 2024–2025 term, Robin Zon, MD, FACP, FASCO, was born and reared in Cheektowaga, a town in the western part of New York. “Cheektowaga is the Native American name for ‘land of the crabapple tree.’ Western New York was first settled by one of seven tribes belonging to the...
ASCO Congratulates 2024 Special Awards Recipients
ASCO and Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, will recognize researchers, patient advocates, philanthropists, teachers, and global oncology leaders who have reshaped cancer care around the world with the Society’s highest honors at the 2024 ASCO Annual Meeting.
The 2024 Special Award Recipients...
Born in a Small Village in India, a Breast Cancer Expert Assumes a Leadership Role in Oncology in Cleveland and Beyond
Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, was born and reared in Kerala, a tropical state in southwestern India. Situated on the Malabar Coast, Kerala was named as one of the ten paradises of the world by National Geographic Traveler. “Along with its natural beauty, Kerala is a true melting pot. Over centuries,...
Immigrant Reared During the Lebanese Civil War by Parents Who Valued Education Becomes a Leader in Genitourinary Oncology
Genitourinary cancer expert Toni K. Choueiri, MD, FASCO, was born in 1975 in Beirut, Lebanon, the year a devastating civil war erupted, lasted for 15 years, and cost the lives of some 150,000 individuals and also led to the exodus of almost 1 million people from Lebanon. “People with the financial...
Motivated by His Mother’s Brain Cancer and His Own Life-Threatening Disease, a Young Physician Works to ‘Pay Back the Universe’
Like many young boys, David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, loved sports and dreamed about playing college football. He attained that dream, but along the way, family tragedy and a personal battle with a life-threatening disease reshaped his worldview and accelerated his ambitions as a...
For an International Expert in Gynecologic Cancer, Being Reared by Educators Who Stressed Knowledge and Service Was Key
Deputy Editor of The ASCO Post, Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, recently spoke with gynecologic cancer expert Sharmila K. Makhija, MD, MBA, about her journey to her current position as Founding Dean and Chief Executive Officer of the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Bentonville, Arkansas.
Raised...
A Father’s Advice Plus a Desire to Help Spur a Career in Oncology and a Leadership Role in African Cancer Care
Miriam Mutebi, MD, MSc, FACS, was born and reared in the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. “The suburb I grew up in (Langata), has seen a lot of development over the past couple of decades. When I was a child, it was a smaller community, where you would go and play at somebody else’s house and have...
