Fall 2010 - Eastern Virginia Medical School

Cancer CenterTeams withMayo Cliniccontinued from page 4That same biomarker panel also couldhighlight new targets for therapies thatdoctors could use in conjunction withsurgery to slow the cancer’s progressionand improve patient survival.Kidney cancer is a potent disease thatis difficult to diagnose. The standardtreatment is to remove the diseasedkidney. In 30 to 40 percent of cases, thecancer recurs and survival rates plummet.In recent decades in the U.S., the numberof people diagnosed with and dying as aresult of kidney cancer has risen steadily. Ittypically strikes older adults, at an averageage of 64.EVMS’ involvement in this researchstudy stems from the foundation ofexpertise developed in the Leroy T.Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center. “Itbuilds on everything we learned fromstudying prostate cancer,” says O. JohnSemmes, PhD, EVMS’ Anthem professorof cancer research and director of theEVMS research center.EVMS welcomes new studentsduring orientation weekNearly 200 new medical and health professionsstudents joined the EVMS family Aug. 16.Incoming students for the medical, art therapyand counseling, biomedical sciences and medicalmaster’s programs kicked off the new semesterby getting acquainted with their professors andclassmates during the annual Dean’s Breakfast.Orientation events continued throughout theweek, and rain showers did not deter faculty andstudents from attending the indoor President’s picnic.On Aug. 20, the White Coat Ceremony officiallywelcomed incoming MD students to the medicalprofession at Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House. Thedonning of the white coat, a universal symbol ofmedicine, marks the medical student’s entry as ajunior colleague in the field.Dean Gerald J. Pepe, PhD, greets a group of new EVMSstudents during the annual Dean’s Breakfast that welcomesincoming students to campus.The H. Lee Kanter lecture was given byMargaret E. Mohrmann, MD, PhD, professor ofbiomedical ethics, pediatrics, medical education,and religious studies and director of the biomedicalethics program at the University of Virginia. Sheencouraged the new students to wear their whitecoats proudly, thoughtfully and carefully.“Keep the coat unbuttoned, leave it open, exposeyour heart, the core of yourself, to remind you,especially when the suffering comes — as it will— that you are committed to letting yourself bechanged by your patients into the doctor they needyou to be,” Dr. Mohrmann said.View photos from orientation week atwww.evms.edu/magazine.First-year art therapy and counseling students Paige Scheinberg, left,and Rebecca Snyder get acquainted with fellow students and facultyduring the annual President’s Picnic, which was moved indoors thisyear due to stormy weather.O. John Semmes, PhD, left, who oversees cancerresearch at EVMS, confers with graduate studentMichelle Trevino and scientist Richard Drake,PhD, who is leading the school’s work to developa more accurate way to diagnose kidney cancer.Chairs of the various academic and clinical departments in the schoolgreet incoming medical students during the White Coat Ceremony at whichup-and-coming physicians are welcomed into the medical community.around campuswww.evms.edu FALL 2010 17