For
Immediate Release
November 20, 2003
For
more information, contact:
Laura Kalies at lkalies@sitcancer.org
sitc ANNOUNCES PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS AND RECORD MEETING ATTENDANCE
Milwaukee-The International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer (sitc) announced two Presidential Award winners, Steven Finkelstein, MD and Christian Poehlein, MD at its 18th Annual Meeting held October 30-November 2, 2003 in Bethesda, Maryland.
Steven Finkelstein, MD of the National Cancer Institute Surgery Branch presented an abstract entitled "Adoptive Transfer of CD8+ T Lymphocytes into Lympho-Depleted Recipients Results in Breaking of Tolerance, Autoimmunity and Cancer Regression." Christian Poehlein, MD of the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute in Portland, OR, presented an abstract entitled "Reconstitution of Lymphopenic Mice with CD25-Depleted Spleen Cells from Tumor-Bearing Mice, Eliminates Tumor-Induced Suppression, Restores the Tumor-Specific Response to Vaccination and Therapeutic Efficacy of Adoptive Immunotherapy." Both Drs. Finkelstein and Poehlein attended the sitc Presidential Reception on Saturday, November 1, 2003 to accept their awards, which carry with them a plaque and a check for $1,000.
"The sitc usually only grants one Presidential Award each year, however, the presentations by Drs. Poehlein and Finkelstein were so scientifically relevant and outstanding that the sitc Presidential Review Committee unanimously agreed to grant two awards this year," said Michael B. Atkins, MD, sitc President.
sitc set another record this year with a 41% increase in registrations from last year to over 800 registrations. The Society also welcomed 93 new members for 2003 at the Members/Sponsors reception held Friday, October 31, 2003. The 2004 Annual Meeting is scheduled for November 4-7th at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
The International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer was founded as the Society for Biological Therapy in 1984 with 40 charter members. The Society currently has over 500 members consisting primarily of MDs, PhDs, RNs, and corporate representatives. The purpose and mission of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer is to bring together those individuals actively involved in the preclinical and clinical investigation of biological agents in the treatment of cancer. Scientific and business meetings have been held annually since the first Annual Meeting of SBT in 1986. At the 2002 business meeting held November 9, 2002, the SBT membership voted to officially change the name of the Society and it thus became the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer.
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