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DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE

Dedicated to Discovery…Committed to Care

Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living

Medical Director, Medical Oncologist

The Leonard. P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living (Zakim Center) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is searching for the new Medical Director. This physician medical director will work directly with the overall director of the Center, other clinical leaders and clinicians across Dana-Farber, including solid tumor and hematologic malignancies groups, Survivorship, and Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care. The medical director will be expected to develop and implement initiatives to address the supportive care needs of cancer patients and survivors. The medical director will supervise the clinical providers in the Zakim Center and oversee Zakim Center clinical programs, including both in-person appointments and virtual group programming. In addition, the new medical director of the Zakim Center will see patients for Integrative Medicine Consultations 3-4 sessions per week, with the possibility of also providing clinical care and/or research in one of our disease-oriented or palliative care programs. Ideally, applicants should have a minimum of three years’ experience as a physician; experience working with patients with cancer is preferred. Strong clinical skills and an appreciation of evidence-based medicine are critical. In addition, they must have formal training or experience in integrative medicine and/or clinical nutrition or exercise. The successful candidate will also engage in educational programming for patients, staff, and faculty and will have the opportunity to participate in and/or lead clinical research projects focused on integrative therapies and lifestyle interventions in cancer patients and survivors. The chosen candidate will be teaching Harvard-trained fellows and students for a minimum of 50 hours per year. 

Appointment at the Instructor, Assistant or Associate Professor levels at Harvard Medical School will be commensurate to academic accomplishment. Salary and benefits will be competitive with other institutions. Candidates should have an MD or MD/PhD degree and must be board-certified or board-eligible in Internal Medicine and/or Medical Oncology.

Please send cover letter, curriculum vitae, names and email of three references to:

Jennifer Ligibel, MD

c/o Taylor Haggerty

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Oncology

450 Brookline Avenue, Suite YC1233

Boston, MA 02215

Taylor_Haggerty@dfci.harvard.edu

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions or any other characteristic protected by law. Women and minority candidates are particularly encouraged to apply. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Hanna Hayden
September 19, 2022 hhayden@thereisgroup.com

New recommendations address the use of integrative therapies for pain management in cancer populations
The joint practice guideline results from a partnership between the Society for Integrative Oncology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 19, 2022)—A new joint practice guideline from the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) has been published to address gaps in healthcare providers’ knowledge of how to safely and effectively treat common cancer symptoms and side effects using integrative medicine approaches.

“Pain is a clinical challenge for many oncology patients and clinicians, and there’s a growing body of evidence showing that integrative therapies can be useful in pain management. But to date there has not been clear clinical guidance about when and when not to use these approaches,” said Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, co-chair of the SIO Clinical Practice Guideline Committee.

SIO joined forces with ASCO to develop a clinical practice guideline on the use of integrative therapies and pain management, building off of ASCO’s existing guideline focused on cancer pain. “This new guideline takes a deeper dive on the use of integrative therapies, which is important because clinicians and patients need to have access to the latest evidence-based information to make clinical decisions,” said Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, co-chair of the SIO-ASCO guideline on use of integrative therapies for pain management.

Integrative oncology is a patient-centered, evidence-informed field of cancer care that utilizes mind and body practices, natural products, and/or lifestyle modifications from different traditions alongside conventional cancer treatments. Integrative oncology aims to optimize health, quality of life, and clinical outcomes across the cancer care continuum and to empower people to prevent cancer and become active participants before, during, and beyond cancer treatment.

“Practice guidelines are a critical way to ensure healthcare providers use treatments that are based on quality evidence from scientific studies that have shown the treatment to be effective and safe,” said Immediate Past Chair of the ASCO® Evidence-Based Medicine Committee, Scott T. Tagawa, MD, MS, FACP. “The guidelines focus on important concerns in patient care that greatly impact quality of life and will help equip the oncology community with the essential knowledge needed to manage integrative therapy approaches.”

The SIO-ASCO guideline was developed following a rigorous review of published literature, including literature only from randomized clinical trials—the gold standard in healthcare research. A large panel of oncology experts was convened, co-chaired by Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center representing SIO, and Eduardo Bruera, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center representing ASCO. The panel reviewed existing evidence and assessed the quality of studies; once consensus was reached, recommendations were made based on the strength of the evidence available.

Among the guideline’s strongest recommendations are that acupuncture be offered to breast cancer patients experiencing joint pain related to the use of a medication common in breast oncology called aromatase inhibitors. Because there was moderately strong evidence supporting its effectiveness and its low risk of harm, the expert panel also recommended acupuncture for general cancer pain or musculoskeletal pain as well as for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

The guideline also recommends the use of massage therapy for patients in palliative care or hospice who are experiencing pain.

“Clinician uptake of evidence-based treatments is always a concern, which is one of the reasons why we create practice guidelines,” said Dr. Bruera. “We are hoping that by showing the growing evidence that is out there, healthcare systems will start hiring these kinds of practitioners and insurance systems will start covering these treatments, because more and more, these are being shown to be effective at managing pain for cancer populations.”

Because the expert panel was conservative in making their recommendations, the guideline also includes areas identified as potentially relevant to cancer care but needing more research. This distinction is important because the lack of endorsement for a given therapy is not an indication that the therapy is necessarily ineffective or unsafe. Rather, it indicates that the expert panel felt the evidence was insufficient to support its recommendation. For instance, said Dr. Greenlee, more studies are needed to assess the safety and effectiveness of natural products.

To ensure patients can play a role in the treatment decision-making process and to inform their discussions about integrative therapies with their oncologists, ASCO and SIO have also posted a listing of integrative medicine patient resources on their respective websites.

“This is the first of three evidence-based guidelines for adults that SIO and ASCO are developing together, which combines the strengths of these two organizations,” added Linda E. Carlson, PhD, President of SIO. “The goal of this important collaboration is to inform as many clinicians and patients as possible about where the evidence for integrative therapies lies to support the best clinical outcomes possible for all cancer patients. And we believe this new guideline accomplishes that.”

SIO received an unrestricted grant to fund guideline development from the Samueli Foundation.

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ASCO® is a registered trademark of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. and is used with permission. ASCO is not a partner or affiliate of SIO and does not recommend or endorse any organization, product, or service.

About The Society for Integrative Oncology:
Founded in 2003, SIO is the premier multi-disciplinary international professional organization for integrative oncology. The mission of the SIO is to advance evidence-based, comprehensive, integrative healthcare to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. SIO enables communication, education, and research to occur by bringing together practitioners and researchers across professions focused on the care of cancer patients and survivors. Members share the common goals of excellent comprehensive patient care, enhancement of anti-cancer therapy, supportive care, and prevention of cancer. SIO members are part of a unique multidisciplinary community of oncologists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, nutritionists, complementary therapy practitioners, naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, epidemiologists, researchers, and many other health care practitioners. Learn more at https://integrativeonc.org/, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

Check out the latest article Cancer Network published about Dr. Mao, SIO past-president and current Board of Trustee member, on the updated guidelines from ASCO and SIO for pain management in patients with cancer.

Read more here. 

Congratulations to Judith Lacey, SIO Global Task Force Member and Board of Trustee, for contributing to the launch of the white paper on ‘Integrative Oncology and Wellbeing in Cancer Care’. Watch the live interview with A/Prof Judith Lacey and Consumer Advocate Barry Du Bois discuss the benefits of Integrative Oncology on Studio 10 here!

You can find the link to the paper here: https://bit.ly/3hBsqll

Check out Jun Mao, MD, Chief of Integrative Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and author of the guidelines, Integrative Medicine for Pain Management in Oncology, as he speaks on the importance of the study and the implications of the findings. 

Watch the interview here.

The Executive Committee of the Society for Integrative Oncology is highlighted in the latest OpenAccessGov publication, discussing how integrative oncology is changing the way cancer care is provided.

Follow the link to learn more: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/integrative-oncology-transforming-cancer-care-patients/150645/

Jan 5, 2023

Cross-cultural perspectives on the role of integrative oncology in palliative care

February 8, 2023

Members, click here to watch the webinar. Not a member? Join today and gain access to our member’s only recordings! 

The webinar will present a cross-cultural perspective to integrative oncology from East-Asia, India, and the Middle East. Drs. Eran Ben-Arye and Dr. Lorenzo Cohen will co-chair the session guided by a real clinical case. Dr. Kenji Watanabe from Japan will present the Kampo medicine approach; Dr. Rammanohar Puthiyedath from South-India will present the Ayurveda perspective; and Dr. Maryam Rassouli from Iran will present the unique Iranian Medicine perspective. Dr. Orit Gressel from Israel will present her own narrative as the integrative oncology physician who treated the patient on her long journey. Each of the speakers will address the patient-centered approach that includes the psycho-spiritual perspective. Audience participation will be encouraged. This webinar provides a wonderful opportunity to learn from practitioners across the world in order to improve the lives of those with cancer.

Exploring the Roles of Patient Advocates in Integrative Oncology
Julie Deleemans, Jodi MacLeod, Eileen Fuentes, Lesley Glenn, Elizabeth Glosik, Jenny Leyh, Susan Ryan, Marianne Sarcich, and Laura Pole

The second column by SIO Leadership in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine (JICM), features, “Exploring the Roles of Patient Advocates in Integrative Oncology”, by the SIO Patient Advocate Committee. The paper is available Open Access through March 3, 2023 here. 

Read the article here. 

May 22, 2023

Dear SIO Community,

The Society for Integrative Oncology is an international nonprofit organization established 20 years ago to advance evidence-based, comprehensive integrative healthcare to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. We are staffed by a group of volunteer healthcare providers, researchers, and patient advocates. Due to our volunteerism business model, it is necessary to outsource full time management of our business which includes finance, accounting, human resources, event planning, legal and other needs. Since inception, SIO has frequently relied on third-party consultancy firms specializing in nonprofit management for these tasks. In 2020, the consultancy firm of Hauck & Associates (“H&A”) in Washington, DC was selected as its outside management company after completing background checks and reviewing references. H&A started in that role on January 1, 2021.  

On May 10, 2023, we learned that Graham Hauck, the principal manager at H&A, pleaded guilty in federal court to misappropriation of funds of another nonprofit organization managed by H&A. SIO quickly terminated H&A, and initiated a series of risk management measures, including securing its assets to prevent further losses; retrieving paper and electronic files and financial books and records; revoking Hauck’s access to bank accounts, internet sites, keys, credit cards and the like; arranging for new management, accounting and operations solutions to replace H&A; hiring a forensic accountant, Chess Consulting LLC, to detect any misappropriation of SIO funds and determine the amount involved; and retaining as outside counsel white collar criminal attorney, Zach Hafer at Cooley LLP (formerly with the US Attorney’s Office), Michael Sanders, a tax exempt tax attorney and professor at Georgetown Law Center and his partner, Malcolm Sandilands, a corporate attorney, both at Blank Rome LLP. We are working with conference specialists in Canada to ensure that our Banff 2023 conference is not disrupted by these developments, and with other specialists to ensure that the SIO’s other activities continue with the minimum possible adverse impact.  

Internally, SIO has appointed its first general counsel, Nelson Lin, to coordinate our legal response, which includes crisis management and supervision of recovery, while the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees has worked continuously since learning of Hauck’s guilty plea to transfer every single management function out of his firm’s hands. That process continues, and we will make every effort to secure the return of any funds that were misappropriated from SIO; our criminal counsel has reached out to Hauck to pursue prompt restitution of any misappropriated funds.

The Board of Trustees will report progress biweekly to SIO members as it continues to investigate this matter.

We thank you for your understanding and patience and we will continue to do everything we can to resolve this in an expeditious and efficient manner. 

 Sincerely

Linda Ellen Carlson, PhD, RPsych 

President, Society for Integrative Oncology, Inc.