THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE!

Did you attend the 2022 Annual Conference? Click Here to access the conference session recordings.

The 2022 SIO International Annual Conference was held in Scottsdale, Arizona, October 19-22, 2022. A total of 196 traveled to Scottsdale, AZ, to attend in person, and 120 more joined virtually. SIO allocated $50,000 to support scholarships for 68 applicants to attend the conference, 28 in-person and 40 virtually.

SIO sincerely thanks the Conference Co-Chairs, Denise Millstine, MD, of Mayo Clinic, and Santosh Rao, MD, ABOIM, of University Hospitals and SIO President-Elect, for the stellar job of pulling this conference together in less than a year. Many thanks to the Scientific Review Committee Co-Chairs, Eugene Ahn, MD, John Camoriano, MD, and committee members, as well as to the SIO 2022 Planning Committee.

On Wednesday, October 19th, the SIO Board of Trustees and co-chairs of SIO committees, task forces, and special interest groups (SIGs) met for the annual Fall Board Retreat, a day-long meeting during which reports are shared from each entity and discuss goals, themes, and strategic plans for SIO’s future. Joined by Ph.D. candidate Oluwabanke “Banke” Adewusi from Lagos, Nigeria, who was welcomed as a first-time in-person attendee, presenter, and researcher.

Ms. Adewusi, Steve Dudley, MD, and Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO, won the Twitter contest in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers, respectively. One of the Twitter winners (Steve) was even a virtual attendee!

On Thursday, SIO welcomed Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, Assistant Dean of Curricular Affairs, Associate Professor of the University of Arizona Family and Community Medicine, and Director of the Rural Health Professionals Program & Commitment to Underserved People Program. Dr. Gonzalez gave a traditional blessing as a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, invoking blessings from the four directions, the sky above and the earth below to give us mindful, grounded, and humble interactions during the conference that will benefit the larger community of people with cancer and those who work to improve their lives through evidence-based integrative oncology.

Thursday evening, following an engaging poster reception punctuated by many hugs and excited reunions, SIO hosted a Tribute Event honoring SIO’s founding president, Barrie Cassileth, Ph.D., featuring memories recounted by past presidents David Rosenthal, MD; Donald Abrams, MD; Gary Deng, MD, Ph.D., and mentee of Dr. Cassileth, Richard T. Lee, MD. Ting Bao, MD, MS, also a mentee and SIO’s Immediate Past President, organized and moderated the event. Attendees enjoyed video montages from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Integrative Medicine Service, which Dr. Cassileth founded, as well as family photos from the Cassileth family set to Dr. Cassileth’s favorite music, including the song, “Let It Be.” 

After the tribute, SIO announced the establishment of the Dr. Barrie Cassileth New investigator Scholarship supporting annual new investigator forum awardees. The forum is a three-hour mentoring session with SIO experts in integrative oncology research conducted at each SIO conference. Congratulations to the four inaugural Dr. Barrie Cassileth Scholars, Emma Wong, Ph.D. Candidate (Australia), Blake Langley, MD, MS, LAc (Seattle, WA), Jason Lam, MPharm (Hong Kong), and Robert Knoerl, Ph.D., RN (Ann Arbor, MI).

Friday evening, SIO held a Sunset Soirée, by planners Betsy Glosik, Arlene Kuturoff, and Julie Deleemans, Ph.D. This evening exceeded expectations, as guests walked the grounds of Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert architectural laboratory and fellowship school at sunset, enjoyed beautiful views, gourmet food, and the music of violinist Jonathan Levingston, and connected with fellow attendees. The setting sun cast a peaceful glow on the hillside, and thanks to the work of the patient advocate planners, docents were on hand to educate about how Mr. Wright designed the school as if it rose from the desert.

As dissemination efforts continue for the newly published “Integrative medicine for Pain Management in Oncology: Society for Integrative Oncology-ASCO Guideline,” the Pain Guidelines plenary, featuring presenters Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE; Heather Greenlee, ND, Ph.D., MPH; Ting Bao, MD, MS; and Judith Lacey, MD, on the guideline history and process, recommendations, plans for education and training, and implementation in the clinical setting. Cancer survivor, Jodi MacLeod also shared her experience of aromatase-inhibitor-induced joint and muscle pain as well as the role patient advocates can play in the dissemination of these and other guidelines.

Many thanks to the keynote speakers, Dr. Floyd “Ski” Chilton, Dr. Lorenzo Cohen, Dr. Edward Creagan, Dr. Linda Rapson (Dr. Rogers Prize luncheon speaker), and Dr. Claudia Witt. Please search the hashtag #SIO2022 on Twitter for pictures, summaries, and tweets on these and other speakers. SIO is grateful as well to all plenary speakers for their impactful presentations which engaged attendees in conversation about health equity, survivorship needs, nutrition, and other important topics.

And now, onward to planning the 20th International SIO Conference and SIO 20th Anniversary celebration in Banff, Alberta. Stay tuned for more information as we invite speakers and create the program around the theme, “Integrative Oncology as Standard of Care: The Time is Now.”