Workshop seeks to inspire collaboration, mentorship among women in thoracic oncology
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In the spring of 2019, Heather A. Wakelee, MD, was approached by a group of young women seeking guidance and connection in their careers as thoracic oncologists.
Narjust Duma, MD, inspired by an experience she had early in her fellowship training when she was told thoracic oncology was “still a man’s world,” joined forced with Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD; Angel Qin, MD; and Christine Bestvina, MD, to develop an opportunity to bring together women working in the field to promote collaboration and mentorship.
“I was very impressed with their idea and enthusiasm,” Wakelee, who becomes president of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) during their annual meeting this month and who was recently awarded the Bonnie J. Addario Lectureship Award from the G02 Foundation for Lung Cancer, said in an interview with Healio.
“They were looking for guidance and an opportunity to get female oncologists together,” Wakelee said. “They reached out to me, Julie R. Brahmer, MD, and several others who had been in the field a lot longer. We were able to work with IASLC to put together the first Women in Thoracic Oncology [WiTO] workshop at our annual meeting in 2019. We were able to do an in-person meeting, and it was a fantastic experience.”
This year, the World Conference on Lung Cancer — and the WiTO workshop — is virtual, but will feature the same discussions, networking opportunities and education as it has in the past. The meeting is taking place Sept. 8 to 14, with WiTO occurring on Sept. 11.
Wakelee, who also serves as chief of the division of oncology at Stanford University and deputy directory of Stanford Cancer Institute, said each year since the inaugural 2019 event, IASLC has been working on making the WiTO workshop more focused and structured.
“The first meeting, it was really just a very open format; we gathered at tables, brainstormed and we talked about challenges we faced,” she said. “Moving forward, we’re working on making sure that we have a keynote speaker and some specific core topics that we want covered.”
Lori J. Pierce, MD, FASTRO, FASCO, is the keynote speaker for this year’s workshop.
“Dr. Pierce has just ended her year as the president of ASCO,” Wakelee said “We’re very excited that she has agreed to attend and share her wisdom.”
The program will include distinguished presenters from around the globe, including Wakelee, Duma, Clarissa Mathias, MD; Deborah Blythe Doroshow, MD, PhD; Triparna Sen, PhD, MS, BS; Alice Berger, PhD; Paula A. Ugalde, MD; Rabab Gaafar, MD; Sabita Jiwnani, MCh, MRCS; Pilar Garrido, MD, PhD; and Kate Sutherland, PhD.
Wakelee said the discussions will focus on various topics facing female thoracic oncologists. The breakout sessions will address mentor/mentee relationships, and will also discuss one particularly challenging situation for women: “the art of saying no.”
“We also plan to discuss career advancement — the transition from trainee to faculty,” Wakelee said, adding that this year’s workshop also will have breakout rooms in Spanish and Portuguese, with potentially more languages in the future.
Wakelee said although women are now more represented in thoracic oncology than in the past, there is still much improvement to be made.
“There is still not gender equity, and one illustration of that is that I’m only the second woman president of IASLC, and we’ve been around for 50 years,” Wakelee said. “With WiTO and the connections we are able to make, we hope to inspire even more women to dedicate their lives to the many disciplines involved in thoracic oncology.”
For more information:
Heather A. Wakelee, MD, can be reached at hwakelee@stanford.edu.
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