WASHINGTON, April 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s preeminent lung cancer research foundation, today announced that Alice T. Shaw, MD, PhD, has joined LUNGevity’s Scientific Advisory Board, a group of 20 world-renowned scientists and researchers that guides LUNGevity’s research program. The Scientific Advisory Board is integral to the Foundation, overseeing the scientific strategy and ensuring that grants are awarded to the researchers whose proposals demonstrate the greatest potential for finding lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable phase, as well as extending and improving lives of lung cancer survivors.
LUNGevity is the only lung cancer organization with a programmatic focus on early detection and Career Development Awards. Our researchers are working on finding a better way to detect lung cancer, and to better diagnose, treat, and prevent its recurrence. The research program is a crucial factor in moving the science forward to improve outcomes for people living with lung cancer.
Dr. Shaw is the Director of the Center for Thoracic Cancers and the Paula O’Keeffe Endowed Chair of Thoracic Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. In addition to caring for patients with lung cancer, Dr. Shaw performs clinical and translational research. Her clinical research focuses on subsets of NSCLC that have unique driver mutations, such as EGFR, ALK, and ROS1. Her translational research focuses on understanding and making clear the mechanisms of resistance to targeted therapies; she is currently developing novel combination treatment strategies. Her research has helped to develop numerous FDA-approved targeted therapies for patients with oncogene-driven NSCLC, such as crizotinib (Xalkori®) for patients with ALK or ROS1 rearrangements.
“We could not be happier that Dr. Shaw has joined our Scientific Advisory Board,” said Andrea Ferris, President and Chairman of LUNGevity Foundation. “She is a brilliant thinker, an innovator, and a compassionate advocate for her patients. In particular, her groundbreaking work that led to the development of Xalkori® has extended and improved the lives of many NSCLC patients. Her expertise and counsel will advance LUNGevity’s goal to increase and improve survivorship for those affected by lung cancer.”
About LUNGevity Foundation
LUNGevity is the nation’s leading lung cancer organization investing in lifesaving, translational research and providing support services and education for patients and caregivers. LUNGevity’s goals are three-fold: (1) accelerate research to patients, (2) empower patients to be active participants in their treatment decisions, and (3) remove barriers that patients face in accessing the right treatments.
LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease. LUNGevity’s comprehensive resources include a medically vetted website, a toll-free HELPLine in partnership with CancerCare®, a unique Lung Cancer Navigator app, peer-to-peer mentoring for patients and caregivers (LUNGevity LifeLine), and survivorship conferences. LUNGevity also helps patients find and navigate clinical trials through our Clinical Trial Finder tool, a Clinical Trial Ambassador program, and participation with Emerging Med.
Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.
About Lung Cancer in the US
- About 1 in 15 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
- More than 224,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
- About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
- Lung cancer takes more lives than the next four deadliest cancers (colorectal, pancreatic, breast, and prostate) combined
- Only 18% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it’s caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically
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SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation
