Joseph Simone, MD to Chair Scientific Advisory Council on Children’s Cancer Research Funding
Council of esteemed physicians and researchers will determine research funding priorities for CureSearch for Children’s Cancer
Bethesda, MD – CureSearch for Children’s Cancer today announced the appointment of a Scientific Advisory Council, led by renowned children’s cancer expert Joe Simone, MD, to develop and guide its scientific strategy and subsequent funding of children’s cancer research. The appointment of the Council comes at a time when CureSearch is expanding its research funding beyond clinical trials.
“CureSearch is pleased to begin funding of translational research initiatives focused on moving findings from the bench to the bedside as quickly as possible,” said Stu Siegel, MD, Division Head, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and Chair of the Board of Directors for CureSearch.
CureSearch has long supported the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), the world’s largest children’s cancer research cooperative, and will continue to do so. This year, the Foundation will provide up to $2 million for patients enrolled in COG therapeutic clinical trials at more than 180 hospitals across the country.
The appointment of Dr. Simone as chair, further establishes CureSearch as a leading foundation at the forefront of funding research vital to improving the survival rates for the 13,500 children diagnosed with cancer and the 40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment each year. An expert in developing curative treatments for pediatric leukemia and lymphoma, Dr. Simone spent the majority of his medical career at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, including serving as its director from 1983 to 1992.
Dr. Simone also served as physician-in-chief of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and as the Senior Clinical Director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, School of Medicine. He was also the founding medical director and chairman of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and founder of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative.
“Overall survival rates are close to 80%” said Dr. Simone. “But we all know that if your child has cancer, the cure rate is either 0 or 100. I am honored to chair a Council comprised of such highly regarded children’s cancer researchers and look forward to our work in developing and reviewing CureSearch’s scientific vision, agenda, and grants program to fund research so that one day, every child will be guaranteed a cure.”
Members of the CureSearch Scientific Advisory Committee include:
Joseph Simone, MD
SAC Chair
President
Simone Consulting Company
W. Archie Bleyer, MD
Clinical Research Professor, Oregon Health and Science University
Medical Advisor, St. Charles Regional Cancer Center
William L. Carroll, MD
Julie and Edward J. Minskoff Professor of Pediatrics
Director, NYU Cancer Institute
Alexander R. Judkins, MD
Department Head, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
A. Thomas Look, MD
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Vice-Chair for Research, Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Bradley H. Pollock, MPH, PhD
Professor and Chairman, Epidemiology & Biostatistics
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Kathleen Ruccione, MPH, RN, FAAN
Co-Director, HOPE Program
Center Nursing Administrator, Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Diseases
Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
Nita Seibel, MD
Head: Pediatric Solid Tumors
National Cancer Institute
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CureSearch for Children’s Cancer is a national non-profit foundation whose mission is to fund and support children’s cancer research and provide information and resources to all those affected by children’s cancer. CureSearch raises funds for promising research conducted at more than 175 hospitals in the United States, participating in National Cancer Institute sponsored clinical trials conducted by the Children’s Oncology Group. Through the CureSearch Investigational Research Initiative, CureSearch also funds basic and translational research that offers the greatest potential to design treatments and improve outcomes for children with difficult-to-treat cancers.