publication date: Dec. 12, 2014
Faculty members at MD Anderson Cancer Center are arguably the most intensely watched cohort in academic medicine. Their angst has been measured four times by three administrative entities over two years.
Now, the institution’s president, Ronald DePinho, is under a mandate from his bosses to improve faculty morale.
Are these folks an anomaly, or is everyone in academic medicine unhappy these days?
There is a place to obtain comparison data: the Faculty Forward Engagement Survey conducted by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
 | Senate Debates $1.1 Trillion “Cromnibus” Bill That Includes a $150 Million Increase for NIH Early Friday morning, President Barack Obama signed a two-day funding resolution averting a government shutdown and giving the Senate time to debate a $1.1 trillion funding package passed by the House of Representatives late Thursday night. The year-long “cromnibus” bill—a Washington-speak portmanteau of continuing resolution and omnibus—passed by a 219-to-206 vote three hours before government funding expired. |
 | Daniel Hayes Elected President of ASCO Daniel Hayes was elected president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The three-year appointment begins with Hayes becoming president-elect on June 1, 2015. He will serve as president from June 1, 2016, to May 31, 2017, and will serve as immediate past-president for the year after. |
 | Varmus Discusses Grant Policy, Changes in Congress and Ebola NCI Director Harold Varmus addressed a joint meeting of the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors and the National Cancer Advisory Board Dec. 2, updating them on his proposed bypass budget for the institute, changes in Congressional leadership, and NCI and NIH grant policy. |
 | NCI’s Douglas Lowy and John Schiller Honored with National Medal NCI’s Douglas Lowy and John Schiller were honored by President Barack Obama with a National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement, for their work in developing a vaccine for human papilloma virus. |
 | Obituary Lee Wattenberg, 92, “Father of Chemoprevention” Lee Wattenberg, emeritus professor of laboratory medicine and pathology at the University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center, died Dec. 9 at the age of 92. His research established the discipline of chemoprevention. Wattenberg first recognized that some compounds could effectively block the development of carcinogens in animals. In 1966, he published a paper in the journal Cancer Research that reviewed 36 years of animal studies on the effects of certain compounds on carcinogenesis and laid the framework for our understanding of how these compounds work. It was in this paper that he introduced the term chemoprophylaxis. |
 | Regulatory Approvals - Gardasil 9 approved, which covers five additional HPV types
- FDA grants Fast Track designation to DPX-Survivac cancer vaccine
- FDA approves a new indication for Xgeva (denosumab)
- FDA approves MP Diagnostics HTLV Blot 2.4 test
- FDA grants clearance for SAVI SCOUT surgical guidance system
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 | In Brief
Weldon Gage named CFO at MD Anderson Cancer Center Marcelo Bento Soares named senior associate dean at University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria Boris Kuvshinoff II named chief medical quality officer and interim chief medical officer at Roswell Park Cancer Institute David Currow named director of palliative medicine and hospice care at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Joanna Weiss appointed VP of revenue cycle management at Moffitt Cancer Center American Cancer Society publishes second edition of The Cancer Atlas Marlo Thomas receives Presidential Medal of Freedom RxTrials and Clinical Oncology Research Excellence form collaboration Yale University and Organovo Holdings Inc. partner to research 3D printed tissues Pharmacyclics receives award for Imbruvica The CrowdCare Foundation announces myeloma research crowdfunding initiative Seattle Children’s launches Strong Against Cancer fundraiser
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