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29th Annual Memorial Sloan-Kettering Convocation Ceremony
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Memorial Sloan-Kettering's 29th annual Academic Convocation featured an address by New York Governor David A. Paterson and honored students receiving PhD degrees for work conducted in Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's laboratories; younger Memorial Sloan-Kettering physicians, scientists, and postdoctoral research fellows; and established clinicians and investigators from the Center and beyond.
Welcoming guests to Convocation in the Rockefeller Research Laboratories Auditorium on the afternoon of May 8, Memorial Sloan-Kettering President Harold Varmus celebrated the Center's achievements during the previous year in patient care, research, and training while expressing concern about the current environment for science.
Citing impressive progress at Memorial Sloan-Kettering "in all of the great enterprises that we undertake," including new programs, ambitious recruitment of investigators, and new sources of research funding, Dr. Varmus pointed out that the Center has "done all these things while also building and planning for an even more expanded future."
He noted that resources like the Geoffrey Beene Cancer Research Center -- which focuses support on two complementary Memorial Sloan-Kettering programs that together span the range of translational research -- and the Starr Cancer Consortium -- created to coordinate collaborations among five institutions, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering -- are providing "new ways to work with each other in cancer research." Dr. Varmus also lauded other recently established Memorial Sloan-Kettering programs such as the Center for Cell Engineering and the Center for Image-Guided Intervention, which is expected to open in 2009. In addition, he said, Memorial Sloan-Kettering continues to move forward in the construction of new facilities, including the Breast and Imaging Center and the second phase of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center.
At the same time, Dr. Varmus cautioned that "all these great things are happening in a larger world that is extremely insecure." In light of the unstable financial state of the nation and the impact of a tightening economy on public support of research and medicine, he noted, "We are an island of accomplishment, but unfortunately at the moment we are living in a sea of uncertainty."
The theme was echoed by Convocation speaker Governor David A. Paterson, who praised Memorial Sloan-Kettering's research leadership "at a time when the desire to learn more about our universe seems to wane from some of the institutions of government."
Governor Paterson spoke of making the acquaintance of Dr. Varmus in 2007, as Mr. Paterson, then lieutenant governor, was leading efforts to develop a New York State stem cell initiative. These efforts resulted in the passage of legislation appropriating $600 million over ten years for a stem cell research program. Dr. Varmus was appointed by then-Governor Eliot Spitzer to the Empire State Stem Cell Board, which helps oversee and administer the program.
In January 2008, New York State announced the first round of funding -- nearly $15 million in one-year development grants that were distributed among 25 institutions for stem cell research. One million dollars went to the Sloan-Kettering Institute. The governor used the occasion of his Convocation address to announce that a second round of funding -- nearly $109 million -- had been made available to support stem cell research initiatives in New York.
Governor Paterson's Address Read an excerpt from Governor Paterson's remarks
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Governor Paterson saluted the graduating students and voiced the hope that society would recognize their importance and provide the support they need. "I want to congratulate the Weill Cornell graduates," he said, "for your great service and for what I hope is a prelude to your participation in a medical revolution at a time when so many discoveries are being made and there are so many opportunities to help."
This year, 11 students received their PhD degrees from Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences, an academic partnership between the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Sloan-Kettering Institute. Douglas A. Warner III, Chairman of the Boards of Overseers and Managers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering, commended the graduates and honorees, noting "how grateful we are to all of you for the tremendous contributions that you make to our collective mission in research, clinical care, and education."
Research Fellow Awards Read a talk with one of the honorees and his mentor
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Awards presented at Convocation to those within the Memorial Sloan-Kettering community included the Geoffrey Beene Graduate Fellowships, presented to two outstanding graduate students; the Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Awards in clinical and basic research, honoring Memorial Sloan-Kettering physicians and scientists under 40 who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in clinical and laboratory cancer research; and the Research Fellow Awards, which recognize the work of Sloan-Kettering Institute postdoctoral fellows.
In addition, the Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence is presented each year to a clinician whose talent and dedication exemplify the standards set by Dr. Whitmore during his nearly 50 years at the Center, where he played a key role in the development of urologic oncology as a specialty. The 2008 Whitmore Award was given to thoracic surgeon Manjit S. Bains, for his more than 35 years of work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
"Manjit is recognized by everybody -- colleagues and patients alike -- as an outstanding surgeon and compassionate physician who has dedicated his life to the care of patients and the training of the medical and surgical staff at this institution," said Robert E. Wittes, Memorial Hospital Physician-in-Chief and a longtime colleague of Dr. Bains. "In a department that is full of top-quality surgical talent, he's considered a surgeon's surgeon, a selfless and splendid colleague by his Memorial peers."
Two more awards, the C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship and the Katharine Berkan Judd Award Lectureship, are usually presented to investigators working outside the Center. This year, an exception was made for the C. Chester Stock Award, which was given to James P. Allison, Chair of Sloan-Kettering Institute's Immunology Program.
"This afternoon, we recognize Jim for his outstanding accomplishments in elucidating T cell biology and regulation, and his impressive contributions to the development of innovative new cancer treatments," Dr. Wittes said.
The Katharine Berkan Judd Award went to Carol Greider, the Dan Nathans Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, for her studies of an element of chromosomes called telomeres.
A reception followed in the Laurance S. Rockefeller Boardroom.
Awards
Geoffrey Beene Graduate Fellowships
- Vasilena Gocheva
- Barry S. Taylor
Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Awards
Boyer Basic Research Award
- Prasad V. Jallepalli, MD, PhD
Boyer Clinical Research Award
Postdoctoral Research Awards
- Katsutomo Okamura, PhD
- Rocio Sotillo, PhD
C. Chester Stock Award Lectureship
Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence
Katharine Berkan Judd Award Lectureship
- Carol Greider, PhD
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Biomedical Research
- The Honorable David A. Paterson Governor, State of New York
PhD Recipients
Fei Duan
Thesis Title: Immune Rejection of Mouse Tumors Expressing Mutated Self
Mentor: Alan N. Houghton, MD
Xiaojun Lei
Thesis Title: Biochemical and Functional Study of Rhomboids, Intramembrane Serine Proteases
Mentor: Yueming Li, PhD
Leszek Lisowski
Thesis Title: Lentivirus-Mediated Globin Gene Transfer for the Treatment of Severe Hemoglobinopathies
Mentor: Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD
Jeffrey Miller
Thesis Title: The Effects of p27KIP1 Deficiency on Differentiation and Transformation in Mouse Embryo Fibroblasts
Mentor: Andrew Koff, PhD
Sirkka Moilanen
Thesis Title: Synthesis of a Structurally and Stereo-chemically Diverse Spiroketal Library Using Novel Stereoselective Spirocyclizations of C1-Substituted Glycal Epoxides
Mentor: Derek S. Tan, PhD
Claudia Ximena Muñoz
Thesis Title: Structure-Function Analysis of the Amnionless Protein and Its Role During Mouse Gastrulation
Mentor: Elizabeth Lacy, PhD
Yuliya Pylayeva
Thesis Title: Role of Focal Adhesion Kinase in Mammary Gland Tumorigenesis
Mentor: Filippo Giancotti, MD, PhD
Jimmy Andrew Rotolo
Thesis Title: Ceramide-Mediated Platform Generation Regulates Apoptosis in vitro and in vivo
Mentor: Richard N. Kolesnick, MD
Matthias Stephan
Thesis Title: Constitutive Expression of Costimulatory Ligands in Tumor Antigen-Specific Human T Lymphocytes: A Study Investigating the Therapeutic Potential of Auto- and Transcostimulation in Cancer Immunotherapy
Mentor: Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD
Nicolas Stephanou
Thesis Title: Mycobacterial Non-Homologous End-Joining: Molecular Mechanisms and Components of a Novel DNA Double Strand Break Repair Pathway
Mentor: Michael S. Glickman, MD
Sushuang Zheng
Thesis Title: Structure-Function Analyses of Encephalitozoon cuniculi and Vaccinia Virus mRNA cap (guanine N-7) Methyltransferases, and Sinefungin Resistance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Mentor: Stewart Shuman, MD, PhD
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