Testimonials
Young Investigator Winner
"My name is Rachel Riechelmann, I am a medical oncologist who works in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
I first joined MASCC in 2005, when I was an oncology resident at the University of Sao Paulo. Once I started receiving the Supportive Care in Cancer (SCC) journal, the articles of it enticed my interest to the field of supportive care in cancer. However, at that time all I could do was study the subject.
After my residency, through an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) educational grant, I happened to meet with Dr Ian Tannock, who invited me for a two-year clinical research fellowship at the Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. I seized up the opportunity and my research focus was on palliative care and outcomes research. I worked at palliative care clinics, under the supervision of Dr Camilla Zimmermann, and developed a few supportive care projects, including a drug trial for cancer cachexia, which was sponsored by the National cancer Institute of Canada.
I have presented studies at MASCC 2006 and 2007 and also won a Young Investigator Award in 2007 with a project about the risk of drug interactions at the end of life.
My experience in palliative cancer care led me to return to Brazil with strong will to develop and conduct research in this area.
Nowadays I supervise a team of 20 medical student from the Faculty of Medicine ABC, Great Sao Paulo Area, who are interested in pursuing medical oncology. We have projects on end-of-life care, supportive care and cancer survivorship. Some of projects might be collaborative with studies conducted by MASCC Study Groups.
During all this time I benefited from free MASCC membership (total of 3 years). My free membership allowed me to keep myself updated on scientific information, meetings and to stimulate even more my passion for supportive care in cancer.
Now I have a good job at a pharmaceutical company and have become a full MASCC member.
I strongly recommend people with interest in supportive care to become MASCC members. And I do hope that they benefit from it as much as I have."
- Testimonial from Rachel Riechelmann
MASCC Member since 1993
"I have been a member of the MASCC since 1993. At that time the Supportive Care in Cancer journal was the only source of review articles of much needed clinical topics i.e. antiemetics, mucositis, febrile neutropenia, and pain. I think it remains the principal journal for this area. Also you could read research articles and find new data but also follow the methodology to start your own supportive care research. In the Journal, you were timely informed about new supportive care interventions and drugs, i.e. GCSFs, bisphoshonates, EPO, their role and place in treatment.
Supportive care highlights of the year were nicely summarized at the MASCC meetings. The CD with presentations from the annual meetings is a great educational tool, which is not usually provided by other organizations. Also MASCC meetings are the place to meet and actually talk with supportive care experts, who are easily approachable, friendly and willing to help you. When I organized a Supportive Care meeting in Belgrade (2004), seven MASCC members came as lecturers and devoted their time and experience to that meeting without honorarium. Without the help of MASCC I would not have been able to introduce supportive care as a new discipline at my Institute (Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia ) and also in my country, Serbia. I would also like to mention the benefits of. MASCC guidelines for everyday use in patient management. Finally MASCC did me the honor of electing me as a member of the Board of Directors."
- Prof Dr Snezana Bosnjak, Institute for oncology and radiology of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. 2007
MASCC Member since 1992
"I joined the very first MASCC meeting in Bruges, Belgium in 1992, which was chaired by Jean Klastersky. He announced the Study Groups during the general assembly, and welcomed MASCC members to join one or more of these. I tried the Study Groups for antiemetics and for infections and found that I was welcomed in both Groups. I had a few publications in antiemetics and none in infections (at that time) and nobody knew my name.
So I really think MASCC is a chance for young investigators to meet and discuss supportive care issues with more experienced colleagues."
- Testimonial from Dr Jrn Herrstedt, medical oncologist from Denmark
Young Investigator Winner
"I am a new investigator having graduated with a PhD in Medicine from The University of Adelaide, Australia in December 2006. I have been successful in obtaining a Cancer Council South Australia Travel Grant in 2005, 2006 and 2007 to travel to the annual Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) meeting. I have also been invited to travel to Boston to work in the laboratory of Professor Steve Sonis, an internationally recognised expert in oral mucositis, who I met through MASCC. In 2006, and again in 2007, I received a MASCC Young Investigator Award and presented the winning abstract at the MASCC symposium in St Gallen, Switzerland 2007. These awards have recognised my detailed research into the activation of cellular pathways associated with chemotherapy-induced intestinal tissue damage. I am a current member of MASCC/ISOO and an active member of the Mucositis Study Group.
Being involved with MASCC and presenting my work at the annual international symposium has proved invaluable for gaining contacts with leading experts in the field of mucositis research, and exposing my work to a wide audience of researchers. I hope to continue contributing within this supportive environment for many years to come."
- Testimonial from Joanne Bowen, MASCC Young Investigator Winner
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