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AACR president-elect to focus on health disparities, convergence science
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, will become president of American Association for Cancer Research next month.
Jaffee is deputy director of Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, as well as associate director of Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Johns Hopkins.
She has been involved with AACR since 1993 and served on its board of directors from 2013 to 2016.
Jaffee is recognized for her work in cancer immunology, with a focus on preclinical and early clinical development of immunotherapies for breast and pancreatic cancers.
HemOnc Today spoke with Jaffee about what she hopes to accomplish during her term as AACR president, as well as her expectations for the field of oncology during the decade.
Question: What was your reaction to being elected president ?
Answer: Other than being surprised, I was honored and humbled. This is a very important position and not too many people get the honor to lead as president of AACR. For me, this is a unique and one-of-a-kind organization. AACR not only unites the entire cancer research community, but it also bridges our community with the government, patients, patient advocacy groups and the public. I have always been in awe of this organization. I have been a member for 25 years and am still surprised by how much they do. I am honored to serve in this important position.
Q: How has your experience prepared you for this role?
A: I have been a member of AACR for more than 25 years and have become increasing involved on many levels. I cannot think of one AACR Annual Meeting that I missed during this time. I also have attended the smaller AACR meetings throughout the year, and have served on the planning committees for both the annual meeting and the smaller meetings that are within my scientific area. I have served on the Women in Cancer Research committee and on the Cancer Immunology working group. I have learned a great deal over the years, which has given me experience and good insights into how the organization functions. In addition to AACR, I have served on a number of national committees. I have served on many NIH/NCI study sections and parent committees, and I serve as chair for the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), which keeps me up to date on national priorities. I have also spent time on Capitol Hill speaking with congressional staffers and members of Congress pushing for cancer research funding. All of these experiences have given me great insight into scientific priorities and have allowed me to develop relationships with industry. I have learned much about working with the government and how to affect change in the cancer community.
Q: What excites you most about this opportunity?
A: I am excited to be able to take on a new challenge. As AACR president I will have the opportunity to participate in national and international activities that are ongoing, as well as help initiate new activities. I recently met with Cancer Research UK and hope to help AACR develop new alliances with that organization. I am additionally bringing AACR together with our colleagues in China who sponsor joint U.S. and Chinese FDA meetings to foster collaborations in drug development between both countries. I am also excited to be able to work with Margaret Foti, PhD, MD, the association’s CEO, and her amazing staff. I always learn something from them each time I work with them, so I know I will learn more as I continue to work with them during the next year.
Q: What priorities have you established for your term as president?
A: One of the areas I want to work on is health disparities and diversity in science. Health disparities has been an area that the current AACR president, Michael Caligiuri, MD, is interested in. I hope to amplify the initiatives that he started. I also hope to work on a plan to encourage more diversity in cancer research. I want to come up with ways to use AACR mechanisms to include a next generation of researchers that will be more diverse and representative of our country. Another interest of mine is convergence science. We need to marry other disciplines with cancer research. This is already happening, but I would like to take this to the next level and initiate mechanisms to further encourage engineers, mathematicians and technologic experts to apply their discipline to cancer biology problems. We are in the era of big data, and we really need to have expertise from individuals who are thinking about big data problems. I am dedicated to encouraging recruitment of the next generation of scientists, and ensuring this includes a diverse group of individuals with different expertise, culture and race.
Q: Is there an area of practice/policy in which you would like to see AACR become more involved?
A: AACR has already started strategizing how to recruit young scientists into the field, and I would like to be part of developing strategies to solve this important problem. My link with the National Cancer Advisory Board may be helpful for identifying ways to work together to provide incentives for recruiting young people into these more diverse areas of cancer. Another aspect of this that needs attention is to develop programs that can cross-train the next generation of investigators to become experts in both cancer biology and areas such as engineering and mathematics.
Q: What are your expectations for the field of oncology during the next 5 to 10 years?
A: We are at a time like no other in cancer research. We have made tremendous progress over the past decade, both technically and also with the rapid approval of therapies for previously deadly cancers. This is truly an unprecedented time in our history. We are already starting to turn these deadly cancers into chronic diseases, and I expect that we are going to see this happen for more deadly cancers in the next 5 years. We will even begin to cure some of them with precision medicine. We are also learning how to intercept early cancers at premalignant stages, and I expect that we will be testing some approaches that may do this in the next 5 to 10 years, as well. As we learn more about individual cancers, we are going to continue to witness cancer patients living longer and with a better quality of life. – by Jennifer Southall
For more information:
Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, can be reached at Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, 401 N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21287.
Disclosure: Jaffee reports no relevant financial disclosures.