On October 22, members of the CoC gathered for the fall meetings in Boston, MA, at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress.
Following the morning CoC Executive Committee meeting and State Chair Town Hall, representatives from five organizations presented updates at the CoC Member Organizations meeting. Elizabeth Holtsclaw, MA, American Cancer Society; Ana Maria Lopez, MD, MPH, FACP, American College of Physicians; Kathryn H. Schmitz PhD, FACSM, FTOS, FAK, American College of Sports Medicine; MAJ Jessica Weiss, MD, Department of Defense Military Health System; and Sara Pai, MD, PhD, FACS, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, presented overviews of their organizations’ missions and accomplishments, as well as recent work directly related to the CoC’s mission.
In the afternoon, CoC Chair Timothy W. Mullett, MD, MBA, FACS, welcomed members to the annual CoC Plenary Session. He introduced the new ACS Cancer Programs Medical Director Ronald J. Weigel, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS, and recognized outgoing Medical Director Heidi Nelson, MD, FACS.
Following Dr. Mullet’s remarks, National Cancer Database Senior Manager Ryan McCabe, PhD, reviewed the new directions planned for the NCDB. Committee on Cancer Liaison Chair Quyen D. Chu, MD, FACS, recognized the winners of the 2023 CoC Research Paper Competition. First-place winner Lauren M. Janczewski, MD, presented her winning research in the clinical research category, Identifying Barriers to Completion of Radiotherapy: Baseline Findings of a Commission on Cancer National Quality Improvement Project. Dr. Mullett reported on the results of the CoC elections, recognized outgoing committee members and leaders, and recognized the winners of the annual State Chair and Cancer Liaison Physician Outstanding Achievement Awards.
Susan Hedlund, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, Health Equity Task Force Chair, presented a preview of the new CoC DEI Toolkit, and Anthony D. Yang, MD, MS, FACS, Core for QI Methodology Chair and Implementation Interim Co-Chair, QI Steering Committee, provided an update on the cancer quality improvement initiatives. Brian K. Edwards, MBA, ACS Chief of External Communications, presented on the ACS Quality Campaign. Following closing remarks from Dr. Mullett, members gathered for the CoC Reception.
