Division News
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Daniel McFarland Named Director of the Psycho-Oncology
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Daniel McFarland, D.O., has been named Wilmot’s new director of the Psycho-Oncology. The associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Department of Medicine brings a unique perspective to his director role having been trained in psychiatry before becoming an oncologist.
He previously served as assistant professor, Department of Medicine/Department of Psychiatry at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, Zucker School of Medicine/Hofstra University. He also was an instructor in the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During his clinical fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, McFarland worked with Jimmie Holland, a founder of the psycho-oncology field.
At Wilmot, McFarland plans to help build a more robust psycho-oncology program that includes research and teaching. His research areas of interest include cancer-related inflammation and depression and doctor-patient communication and informed consent and decisional capacity. A third research interest is wellness, and McFarland has been working on this area as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Wellbeing Task Force.
McFarland will continue his head-and-neck oncology practice as well. “I look forward to the opportunity to craft an oncology-oriented psychology program that will fit seamlessly into my oncology practice and that meets the needs of patients with cancer,” McFarland said.
Lipe and Van Veldhuizen named Co-Medical Directors for Wilmot’s Clinical Trials Office
Friday, September 9, 2022
The Wilmot Cancer Institute has named Brea Lipe, M.D. and Peter Van Veldhuizen, M.D., Co-Medical Directors for Wilmot’s Clinical Trials Office (CTO), effective September 1. Lipe and Van Veldhuizen will be responsible for the physician oversight of CTO operations and will serve as the primary liaison between faculty and the CTO.
In addition, Lipe and Van Veldhuizen will provide support for Wilmot Investigators to ensure all clinical research is performed to the highest ethical standards, and ensuring and maintaining patient safety and compliance. They will also work in close partnership with CTO Administrative Leadership in making policy and process decisions to enhance and streamline Wilmot clinical research and continue to facilitate collaboration and teamwork.
Paul Barr, M.D. has served as Medical Director for Wilmot’s Clinical Trials Office (CTO) since 2014, as well as the Assistant Director for Clinical Research for Wilmot. With Lipe and Van Veldhuizen’s recent appointments, he will now have additional time to focus on expansion of Wilmot’s Developmental Therapeutics capabilities, as well as developing and implementing research initiatives to support Wilmot’s strategic plan.
During his tenure as Medical Director for the CTO, Barr helped to lead the OnCore implementation project and was instrumental in developing the structure of the Disease Working Group team meetings. He is also heavily involved as the PI for a Wilmot NLAPS grant, which will support research activities, develop impactful clinical trials, mentor the new researchers, and provide cutting edge treatment options for patients.
Loh Receives Conquer Cancer Foundation Award at ASCO Annual Meeting
Monday, June 13, 2022
Melissa Loh, B.Med.Sci., M.B.B.Ch., B.A.O., M.S., who specializes in treating older adults at the Wilmot Cancer Institute, was awarded a competitive Conquer Cancer Foundation-Walther Cancer Foundation Career Development grant.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s leading professional organization for cancer specialists, announced the award in advance of its annual meeting. Several Wilmot faculty members and trainees participated in ASCO.
Loh receives $200,000 to support a pilot randomized clinical trial evaluating communication and shared decision-making between doctors and older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected as a recipient of this award, and I’m happy that ASCO reviewers saw the value of this research topic,” Loh said.
One of Loh’s mentees, Marissa LoCastro, a third-year UR School of Medicine and Dentistry student, also received the ASCO Annual Meeting Research Award in recognition of her abstract on advanced care planning for older adults with blood cancer. The award supports trainees from underrepresented backgrounds, such as LoCastro, to attend the event.
Other Wilmot and University of Rochester Medical Center physicians participated in the ASCO 2022 annual meeting. Read the full story.
Dhakal Earns KL2 Career Development Award
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Ajay Dhakal, M.B.B.S., assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, has received a KL2 Career Development Award from the University of Rochester CTSI. These awards are given to early-career clinical and translational scientists throughout URMC. His project is focused on assessing whether HER2-targeted therapy neratinib in combination with a chemotherapy capecitabine can shrink brain metastases in patients with HER2-negative breast cancer and underlying hyperactive HER2 signaling. Read more.
Loh Named mHealth Scholar
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Melissa Loh, B.Med.Sci., M.B.B.Ch., B.A.O., M.S., assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, has been named an mHealth Scholar for the 2022 mHealth Training Institute to be held virtually. She was selected from a pool of more than 250 applicants. The virtual program will provide intensive training in mHealth approaches and methodologies.
Three Hematology/Oncology Faculty Members Named to ‘Exceptional Women in Medicine’ List
Sunday, May 22, 2022
Three women faculty members within the Division of Hematology/Oncology have been named to the 2023 Exceptional Women in Medicine list compiled by Castle Connolly, a property of Everyday Health Group.
The larger list includes 8,400 doctors across 77 specialties; the oncology list specifically has 761 physicians in the field. All 50 states are represented.
To make the list, Castle Connolly takes nominations from physicians’ peers and assesses each based on criteria, including qualifications, education, leadership appointments, outcomes data and more.
The 2023 list was published by BeckerHospitalReview.com. The three faculty are:
Additional faculty from Wilmot Cancer Institute were also named to the list. See the full list from BeckersHospitalReview.com or learn more about
Wilmot Cancer Institute Has Good Year of Clinical Trials Despite Pandemic
Friday, January 21, 2022
Enrolling patients in research studies is always a challenge, and the COVID pandemic brought new hurdles to recruiting clinical trial participants. While many cancer centers saw a decline in enrollment due to the pandemic, Wilmot Clinical Trials continued to treat a large number of individuals.
The entire division of Hematology & Oncology contributed to the success of clinical trials last year through teamwork and collaboration, keeping the impact of COVID at bay for their patients. Aram Hezel, M.D., division chief, says this is “an achievement the whole group can be proud of.”
Hezel makes it a point that for every patient, they look for a trial that fits their unique health situation. There are more than one hundred types of cancer, each with different stages, and so there are over 200 clinical trials open at Wilmot at any given time. Patient education is the key to enrolling participants: ensuring that the patient and their family know about available trials and understand the risk versus benefits. Approximately half of patients decide to enroll in a trial after speaking with their physician.
“Clinical trials are very positive for patients,” said Hezel, “because it offers them treatment options they might not otherwise have access to. Sometimes a trial will lead to the FDA approval of a new therapy. Trials are also positive for us as physicians, because there’s an exciting aspect of exploration, the freshness of trying something new, knowing that it could lead to finding better treatment options for our patients.”
The latest issue of Dialogue magazine offers a deeper dive in the article “Clinical Trials Office Steps Up Its Game.” Learn how the CTO has been instrumental in preparing for National Cancer Institute designation, and how it has been transforming processes while still providing care.