News

This story is the second in a series about Mr. Pfadt. Click here to read the first story, Carl Pfadt: Fighting sarcoma, the forgotten cancer. Carl Pfadt began training for the 2020 Detroit Free Press Half Marathon before his first day of chemotherapy at Karmanos Cancer Institute. With an undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma in his hamstring, Pfadt was not hitting the pavement and training physically; he was setting a goal with daily affirmations. "I began writing the affirmation 'By October 2020, I will...

January is cervical cancer awareness month. Understanding this cancer requires an examination of HPV, the human papillomavirus. Every year, nearly 14,000 cervical cancer cases are diagnosed, and even more cervical pre-cancers are found. Almost all of these cases are caused by HPV. Fortunately, these cases can be prevented in the future, thanks to HPV vaccination. "HPV is very prevalent. We assume that everyone who is sexually active has been exposed because it affects such a massive portion of the popul...

Congratulations to Elisabeth Heath, M.D., FACP , associate center director of Translational Sciences and leader of the Genitourinary Oncology Multidisciplinary Team at Karmanos Cancer Institute and professor at Wayne State School of Medicine for receiving the 2020 Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Challenge Award. Dr. Heath serves as principal investigator, alongside Peter Nelson, M.D. of the University of Washington, on the project titled PC-REACTR: A Multidimensional Tumor Atlas to Overcome Prostate Ca...

Gratitude is usually something we think about during the Thanksgiving holiday season, but we may sometimes forget to practice gratitude daily. “Gratitude is the active practice of appreciation of positive regard for self in life, for those around you, achievements, successes and more,” defined Samarea Lenore, PhD, Clinical Health Psychology Fellow at McLaren Flint, who also sees patients at Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Flint . Studies and research show that gratitude can lead to positive effects...

Wayne State University School of Medicine News To enhance the success of advancing the science related to ovarian cancer, the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University’s C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development have established the Ovarian Cancer Research Interest Group. The group seeks to bring together scientists and physicians working in the field to merge each investigator’s individual expertise to rapidly find solutions to confront the disease. Read the full article ...

As a part of McLaren Health Care (McLaren), the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute began the process of immunizing its health care workers against COVID-19 today. “Our health care heroes have been courageously battling each wave of this virus for nearly a year,” said Justin Klamerus, M.D., MMM, president, Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Network. “Now it is time we take the final fight to COVID-19.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, w...

A team led by Lauren Hamel, Ph.D., assistant professor and member of the Population Studies and Disparities Research Program at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University School of Medicine has identified discernable patterns of behaviors between Black patients with cancer and their oncologists. Read the full article here .

Congratulations to Isaac Powell, M.D., member of the Genitourinary Oncology Multidisciplinary Team. Dr. Powell has been awarded a Presidential Citation by the American Urological Association (AUA). This award recognizes Dr. Powell’s outstanding contributions regarding the biology, genetics and environmental impact of prostate cancer in African American men. Presidential Citations are presented to individuals deemed to have significantly promoted the cause of urology. Each recipient is chosen by the AUA ...

Michele Cote, Ph.D. professor of oncology, Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, is this year’s recipient of the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) 2020 John Snow Award, which is given annually to recognize an outstanding epidemiologist for excellence in epidemiologic practice or research. The awards ceremony took place at the virtual APHA meeting on October 26, 2020. The award honors the late English physician John Snow, M.D. (1813-1858), considered one of the founders of moder...

Justin Klamerus, M.D., MMM, president, Karmanos Cancer Hospital and Network, has been appointed to the Public Health Advisory Commission by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Dr. Klamerus was selected for his experience in hospital administration. His term began December 11, 2020, and will expire November 1, 2024. The Public Health Advisory Council was created within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services at the recommendation of the Public Health Advisory Commission. The Council will dev...