October Newsmakers

Duke University professor honored for breast cancer research (WRAL)
Donald McDonnell, PhD

Cure’s Inaugural Lung Cancer Heros Program Honors Several Individuals Who Have Dedicated Their Lives and Careers to Improving Care for Patients (Cure Today)
Features Jennifer Garst, MD

How to Ease Social Isolation During the Pandemic (Brain & Life/American Academy of Neurology)
Features Katy Peters, MD, PhD, FAAN

Jump-Start Your At-Home Fitness Routine (Brain & Life/American Academy of Neurology)
Features Tom O'Donnell (patient of Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center)

Clinical Challenges of Managing Breast Cancer Brain Metastases (The ASCO Post)
Features Carey Anders, MD

Telephone Interventions Might Relieve Some Symptoms in Adults With Cancer (Medscape)
Features Joseph Winger, PhD

Surgeons Debate Management of Small Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
Resect or Observe? (OR Management Today)
Features Peter Allen, MD

Top 5 Nursing Programs in the U.S. for a Career as an Oncology Nurse (DocWire News)
Features Duke University School of Nursing

Duke Health, UNC Rex and WakeMed competing for millions in expansions in Wake County (Triangle Business Journal)

Proposal would transform area of Wake Forest Road/I-440 into a ‘Walkable Midtown’ (WNCN CBS-17)

Duke University lands record $65M in licensing revenue, helps launch 17 startups (WRAL Techwire)

Oncology Related Startups

• Features Xiling Shen, PhD, David Hsu, MD, PhD 
  Startup: Xilis 
  Technology: Next-generation micro-organosphere technology for precision cancer therapy
   
• Features Qi-Jing Li, PhD, Xiao-Fan Wang, PhD
  Startup: Immcure     
  Technology: High throughput genetic modifications via CRISPR
   
• Features: Nimmi Ramanujam, PhD
  Startup: Calla Health Foundation     
  Technology: Centered on sustainably improving women’s access to cancer prevention for global impact
   
• Features: Jigar Patel, MD
  Startup: Skincheck360     
  Technology: Minimizing the risk of wrong-site skin cancer surgery by utilizing smart devices and computer vision technology

Durham firefighter's idea sparks new cancer study (WRAL)
Features Duke Cancer Institute

More than words: NC doctor draws comics to navigate tough medical issues (Raleigh News & Observer)
Features Nathan Gray, MD

CURE Media Group Announces Winners of the Inaugural 2020 Lung Cancer Heroes Awards (CURE Today)
Features Jennifer Garst, MD

Donald P. McDonnell, PhD, Honored by Susan G. Komen (Endocrine News)

A win-win for health and life in times of COVID (VOX EU/CEPR)
Features Rachel Adams Greenup, MD

A Randomized Phase 2 Trial of Pembrolizumab versus Pembrolizumab and Acalabrutinib in Patients with Platinum-Resistant Metastatic Urothelial Cancer - Beyond the Abstract (Uro Today)
Features Tian Zhang, MD, Michael R Harrison, MD, and Daniel J George, MD

31 Ways to Live Better With Metastatic Breast Cancer (Health Central)
Features Sarah Sammons, MD, Terri Strong (clinical social worker) and Parker Anderson (medical family therapist)

Are COVID-19 Delays a Basis for Concern? Can We Use This for Future Good? (Oncology/Cancer Network)
Features Judd Moul, MD

The SHE Experience: ACCC Conference Promotes Women in Oncology (ACCC)
Features Nadine Barrett, PhD

Boca Raton Regional Hospital Researchers Launch COVID-19 Clinical Trial to Investigate New Treatment for Critical Patients (The Boca Raton Tribune)
Features Joanne Kurtzberg, MD

How to Make Smarter Decisions (Duke Today)
Features Karen Karasch

Papers

*Duke authors are bolded

Declines in health insurance among cancer survivors since the 2016 US elections. The Lancet. Oct. 15, 2020. Haley A Moss, Xuesong Han, K Robin Yabroff, Junzo Chino, Fumiko Chino.

The Paradoxical Effects of COVID-19 on Cancer Care: Current Context and Potential Lasting Impacts. Clinical Cancer Research. Sept. 29, 2020. Alex Broom, Katherine Kenny, Alexander Page, Nicole Cort, Eric S. Lipp, Aaron C. Tan, David M. Ashley, Kyle M. Walsh and Mustafa Khasraw.

BRD4 Prevents R-Loop Formation and Transcription-Replication Conflicts by Ensuring Efficient Transcription Elongation. Cell Reports. Sept. 22, 2020. Drake S. Edwards, Rohin Maganti, Jarred P. Tanksley, Elena Balkanska-Sinclair, Jinjie Ling, Scott R. Floyd.

The ASTRO clinical practice guidelines in cervical cancer: Optimizing radiation therapy for improved outcomes. Gynecologic Oncology. Sept. 22. Junzo Chino, Christina M. Annunziata, Sushil Beriwal, Lisa Bradfield, Beth A. Erickson, Emma C.Fields, Jane Fitch, Matthew M.Harkenrider, Christine H.Holschneider, Mitchell Kamravaj, Eric Leung, Lilie L.Lin, Jyoti S.Mayadev, Marc Morcos, Chika Nwachukwuo, Daniel Petereit, Akila N.Viswanathan.

Central nervous system injury from novel cancer immunotherapies. Current Opinion in Neurology. September 15, 2020 Winter, Sebastian; Vaios, Eugene; Dietrich, Jorga.

Attachment style, partner communication, and physical well‐being among couples coping with cancer. September 7, 2020. Personal Relationships: Journal of the International Association for Relationship Research. Katherine Ramos, Shelby L. Langer, Michael Todd, Joan M. Romano, Neeta Ghosh, Francis J. Keefe, Donald H. Baucom, Karen L. Syrjala, Laura S. Porter.

Early 18F-FDG-PET Response During Radiation Therapy for HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer May Predict Disease Recurrence. International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics. August 13, 2020. Yvonne M.Mowery, MD, PhD; Irina Vergalasova, PhD; Christel N.Rushing, MS; Kingshuk Roy Choudhury, PhD; Donna Niedzwiecki, PhD; Qiuwen Wu, PhD; David S.Yoo, MD, PhD; Shiva Das, PhD; Terence Z.Wong, MD, PhD; David M. Brizel, MD.