Dear MICR
Members:
Greetings! I
am very proud to serve you as Chair of the MICR Council for 2009-2010. I
am honored to follow in the footsteps of Dr. Jean Ford (2008-2009), Dr. Duane
Smoot (2007-2008), Dr. Carlos Casiano (2006-2007), Dr. Judith Kaur (2005-2006),
and all others who have preceded me. They have developed an outstanding
foundation from which we can build in 2009-2010 and into the future.
The MICR has
seen a crescendo in its membership and its impact within AACR over the past few
years. The MICR presence and its scientific growth have been
tremendous. The MICR has organized and sponsored two very successful
scientific conferences: the first and second Science of Cancer Health
Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held in
November 2007 and in February 2009, respectively. For both conferences,
attendance exceeded the planned projections. Speakers included
internationally recognized scientists from diverse fields including the genomic
sciences, behavioral science, molecular biology, public health, molecular
pharmacology, and clinical investigations.
Our
scientific sessions at the Annual Meetings have been tremendous
successes. The AACR-MICR-Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship has included the
Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society; the Director of the MD,
PhD Program at the University of Colorado, and a MacArthur Foundation Scholar
(Genius Award).
Our task is
to MAINTAIN THE MOMENTUM!
I challenge
you to do the following things:
- Submit
nominations for this year's MICR-Jane Cooke Wright Lecture.
- Submit
nominations for each of the major awards/lectures
at the AACR. It is important that underrepresented minorities become
recipients of the other major awards of the AACR.
- Be
very, very active in the MICR.
- Support
each and every MICR member that you know. This can mean attending their
poster or talk, mentoring those junior to yourself, delivering a kind word
whenever you can, and fostering productive collaborations.
Please remember, we determine our future.
We control what we will become. Let's build on our already strong
foundation, and make ourselves even better than we are today.
Warm regards,
Eddie
AACR-MICR Council Chairperson (2009-2010)
Clinical Director and Point Clear Charities Chair
Abraham Mitchell Distinguished Investigator
Professor, Oncologic Sciences
Mitchell Cancer Institute
University of South Alabama