The LRG 2016 GIST Days of Learning Tour (GDOL) made a stop in New York City on June 29th. A GIST Day of Learning is a free, one-day program that provides both education and support to the GIST community. Medical professionals who have specialties in GIST cancer give presentations on issues relevant to their fields of expertise. GDOLs provide an opportunity not only to meet and interact with local expert practitioners in an intimate setting, but also for patients to connect with one another in a supportive environment.

On the same day as our GDOL, Vice President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever Cancer Moonshot Summit at Howard University in Washington, D.C. , an invitation only event that was attended by our Executive Director, Norman Scherzer. The Vice President called for conversations in communities across the United States. These local summits were the first time that the entire community was invited to dialogue in order to accelerate progress in cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.

The Life Raft Group is happy to announce that we combined our GIST Day of Learning with a Regional Moonshot Summit. The American Cancer Society Manhattan office opened their beautiful space to allow us to host the event. In addition to the educational presentations by local physicians, we livestreamed the Vice President’s remarks from DC which helped spark a lively discussion on ways we can double progress against cancer—all of which got submitted to the White House. We also had the unique opportunity to join an exclusive teleconference call with the Vice President and other regional summit hosts reflecting on the importance of this initiative.

The lineup of speakers and presentations included: “The Impact of Clinical Research on Patient Care,” by Dr. Gary K. Schwartz, Chief of Hematology/Oncology New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center; “An Overview of GIST and its Medical Management,” by Dr. William D. Tap, Chief of the Sarcoma Medical Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and “Integrative Medicine and Cancer Treatment,”  by Dr. Shelly Latte-Naor, Bendheim Center for Integrative Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The exchange of information between the patients and physicians was invaluable. Open communication and the sharing of information made this Moonshot Summit a success and is a great example of the type of collaborative effort the Cancer Moonshot project calls for.

We would like to thank Aldo Soligno who captured precious moments of the event through his photos.

We would like to acknowledge our sponsors who made this GDOL possible: Bayer, Genentech, Lilly, Novartis, and Pfizer.

Look for upcoming GDOLs on our events page.

For more information on our Executive Director, Norman Scherzer’s experience at the Cancer Moonshot Summit, see our previous post here.