Stony Brook Cancer Center Awarded $50,000 from 2013 Walk for Beauty
Gloria Rocchio, center, President of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, is joined by members of the 2013 Walk for Beauty Committee as she presents a check for $50,000 to Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director, Stony Brook University Cancer Center, Vice Dean, Cancer Medicine, and the Joel Kenny Professor of Medicine, on Monday, May 19. The check represents proceeds raised from the 20th annual Walk for Beauty to benefit cancer research at Stony Brook University. Flanking left and right are Chiara Luberto, PhD, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Stony Brook University, and Anat Biegon, PhD, Senior Scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Professor of Neurology at Stony Brook University, two cancer researchers whose projects will receive funds raised from the 2013 walk.
Gloria Rocchio, President of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization, was joined by members of the 2013 Walk for Beauty Committee as she presented a check for $50,000 to Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Vice Dean, Cancer Medicine, and the Joel Kenny Professor of Medicine. The check represents proceeds raised from the 20th Annual Walk for Beauty to benefit cancer research at Stony Brook University.
Chiara Luberto, PhD, Research Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Stony Brook University, and Anat Biegon, PhD, Senior Scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Professor of Neurology at Stony Brook University are two cancer researchers whose projects received funds raised from the 2013 walk.
Walk for Beauty is a collaboration between Ward Melville Heritage Organization and Stony Brook University which has raised more than $1.2 million for cancer research since its inception in 1994. The funds will also be used to pay for wigs and prostheses for cancer patients. The event is an all-volunteer initiative with no administrative costs. All proceeds stay in the community to benefit cancer research at Stony Brook.
Stony Brook Cancer Center Wins LIVESTRONG Grants for New Programs
Representatives of Stony Brook Medicine and Stony Brook Children’s celebrate receiving LIVESTRONG grants, left to right: Laura Vogeli, RN, nurse navigator, Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center, trainer for the Vital Hearts program; Lauren Sharaby, CCLS, Child Life Specialist, pediatric Shutterbug program coordinator; Anna Perez, RN, nurse administrator for Stony Brook University Cancer Center; Darlene Kenny, LSW, Oncology Social Worker, Vital Hearts program; Carol Amodeo, RN, nurse manager for Surgical Oncology, trainer for Vital Hearts; Lauren Richard, LSW, Oncology Social Worker, Vital Hearts program; and Patricia Doty, RN, nurse manager, 19 North and South.
Stony Brook Medicine has received two LIVESTRONG Community Impact Project grants totaling $23,270 to provide a photography arts program for children with cancer and a trauma resiliency program for healthcare workers who deal with cancer patients.
The first grant, totaling $12,595, will allow the Stony Brook University Cancer Center to provide the Pablove Shutterbugs pediatric photography arts program for children and teens with cancer. As the signature arts program of The Pablove Foundation, Pablove Shutterbugs teaches children living with cancer to express their creative voice through the art of photography.
In many reputable medical journals, it has been noted that “it takes more than medicine to get well,” said Margaret M. McGovern, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Physician-in-Chief, Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
“It is well recognized that peer support and socialization for teen patients is vital to their emotional well-being,” Dr. McGovern said. “This grant will give our teenage patients/students a voice of their own, a way to develop creative thinking, foster self-esteem and nurture their independence while increasing their joy and passion for life.”
The program will support the Child Life program’s philosophy at Stony Brook Children’s by promoting normal growth and developmental milestones in the teenage years, said Lauren Sharaby, MS, CCLS, Certified Child Life Specialist for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stony Brook Cancer Center.
Participants in the program will learn the principles and techniques of photography through carefully crafted lessons on composition, perspective, and storytelling. The program aims to increase a student’s sense of joy, encourage creative thinking, foster self-esteem and develop independence. Patients will get to keep their point-and-shoot camera kits upon completion of the program, so they can continue practicing creative expression for years to come.
The second LIVESTRONG grant, for $10,675, will create the Vital Hearts Secondary Trauma Resiliency Program, which will allow Stony Brook Cancer Center to care for its clinical staff and ensure that they are mentally prepared for the daily rigors of caring for cancer patients. Cancer exacts a huge toll, not only on the patient and family, but also on the healthcare workers who care for them.
“We offer proven resources to our clinicians as they deal with the critically ill and frightened patient and as they cope with the loss of those they have grown fond of and have been unable to save,” said Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Vice Dean for Cancer Medicine, and Joel Kenny Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “It is our hope to grow this program to offer ongoing support sessions for our healthcare staff.”
“The ability to offer staff support in a safe, non-judgmental environment is vital to the staff’s well-being,” said Jeannie Gaspard, RN, MSN, OCN, NEA-BC, Interim Associate Director of Cancer Services. “Nurses, social workers, physicians and clinical assistants are vital to the successful navigation of a cancer journey for the patient and their families.”