The 2009 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting convened October 18-20, in Washington, D.C. The trans-disciplinary conference examined issues that both challenge and contribute to the cancer centers’ combined efforts to improve the health of patients and families across the United States. This event was jointly sponsored by Vanderbilt School of Medicine and AACI and was attended by over 260 cancer professionals.
This year’s meeting featured presentations exploring some of the many aspects of health care reform that will have significant impacts on cancer research and on the patients who benefit from our work.
Dr. Daniel Callahan, Senior Research Scholar and President Emeritus of the Hastings Center, presented a talk on cancer costs and the ethics of medical progress. The program also included a panel discussion on comparative effectiveness research and its potential impact on the quality of cancer care. The topic was addressed by speakers representing varied perspectives, including academia and the patient advocacy community.
And while politics and health reform are filling many headlines this year, the meeting also highlighted notable research activity, in part with a panel discussion on the development of targeted therapies.
Other meeting highlights included a talk by Dr. Richard Klausner, of The Column Group, entitled, "Cancer 2.0: A Vision to Transform the U.S. Cancer Research Enterprise". In addition, there were presentations on maximizing cancer center resources in a challenging economy, managing tissue resources at cancer centers, and how to efficiently handle multiple infrastructure awards.
AACI acknowledged organizations that provided unrestricted educational grants and organizations providing program and activity support.
The Association received unrestricted educational grants from Amgen, AstraZeneca, Celgene, Cephalon Oncology, Exelixis, Genentech, Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, Onyx Pharmaceuticals, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Roche, and sanofi-aventis U.S.
AACI also received an R-13 Conference Grant in support of the 2009 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. These grants are awarded annually in support of national or international scientific meetings, conferences, and workshops that are of value in promoting the goals of the National Cancer Program.
In addition, AACI thanked Bristol-Myers Squibb, EMD Serono, Inc., PercipEnz Technologies, Inc., sanofi-aventis U.S., and Velos for their generous support of ongoing AACI initiatives and programs.