Cancer Survivors Lecture Series to Honor Anna T. Meadows, MD

January 13, 2010 — The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is pleased to announce an annual lecture series to honor Anna T. Meadows, MD, the founding director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Children's Hospital.

The inaugural lecture, to be held Feb. 9,  will feature Les Robison, PhD, chair of Epidemiology and Cancer Control at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, speaking about "Subsequent Neoplasms in Long-Term Survivors of Childhood and Adolescent Cancers." The lecture will be held in the Abramson Research Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Room 123 ABC at 4 p.m. and will be followed by a reception in the Abramson Gallery to honor Dr. Meadows' long and illustrious career. 

About Anna T. Meadows, MD

Dr. Meadows is being honored for her dedication to children with cancer, and especially for the development of successful programs for the care of long-term survivors.

As founding director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at CHOP and professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. Meadows understands the problems faced by survivors of childhood cancer in their lifetimes.

She has carried out groundbreaking research that has resulted in effective interventions for survivors, and has provided national leadership in the developing field of cancer survivorship.

About Les Robison, PhD

Dr. Robison is the chair of Epidemiology and Cancer Control and co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.

Dr. Robison received his PhD and MPH from the University of Minnesota and he is a world-recognized leader in outcomes research, as well as the epidemiology and etiology of childhood cancer.

Recently, he was senior author of the largest study to date, which shows adults diagnosed and treated from 1970 to 1986 at increased risk for complications of their cancer and its treatment, compared to siblings. The results of this study found that 40 percent of these adults will experience serious, life-threatening, disabling or fatal conditions; and that female survivors are 50 percent more likely to experience them.

Dr. Robison is principal investigator of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), a 26-institution study that tracks outcomes of more than 14,000 survivors whose cancer was diagnosed between 1970 and 1986.