The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will honor Neal J. Meropol, MD, as a Fellow during the May 31 Opening Session of the 2014 ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. He will be one of 12 exceptional members to earn the designation of Fellow as a result of their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication and commitment to ASCO, the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer. This recognition permits all 12 new ASCO Fellows to add the designation of "FASCO" to their credentials.
Meropol is Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center. Meropol, also Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, is an internationally known colon cancer clinical researcher whose work spans the spectrum from cancer prevention to treatment. He also holds the Dr. Lester E. Coleman, Jr., Chair in Cancer Research and Therapeutics at the UH Seidman Cancer Center.
"I am truly honored by this unexpected recognition for work that I love, to improve the care of cancer patients worldwide," says Dr. Meropol.
Since joining ASCO in 1993, Meropol has taken on myriad positions throughout the years, including his 2013 election to ASCO's 18-member Board of Directors. The board is responsible for executing the mission, vision and strategic management of the organization and translating ASCO's mission into ongoing programs that attain the organization's goals.
Meropol also serves as a member of ASCO's Cost-of Care Task Force (2007-present), and previously served as Chair of the Cancer Research Committee (2010-2011), the Comparative Effectiveness Research Task Force (2009-2012), and as a member of the Cancer Communications Committee (2012-2013). Finally, he is Co-Chair for the ASCO/American Association of Cancer Research Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop this summer.
With more than 30,000 members, ASCO is committed to improving cancer care through scientific meetings, educational programs and peer-reviewed journals. ASCO is supported by its affiliate organization, the Conquer Cancer Foundation, which funds ground-breaking research and programs that make a tangible difference in the lives of people with cancer.
Meropol joined Case Western Reserve University and UH Case Medical Center in July 2009 as Associate Director for Clinical Research of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and Section Chief of Medical Oncology from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. He has an international reputation for his contributions in gastrointestinal malignancies, having conducted important studies of new treatments that have become standard of care and his research to improve methods for helping patients communicate with their doctors and make decisions about their care. Additionally, Meropol holds a variety of national positions that impact cancer care and healthcare policy, including co-chair of the NCI Gastrointestinal Steering Committee.
Meropol received his MD from Vanderbilt University. He completed a residency at UH Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. He began his academic career at Roswell Park Cancer Institute and moved to Fox Chase Cancer Center in 1998. Meropol also completed a sabbatical at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
About Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Founded in 1843, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine is the largest medical research institution in Ohio and is among the nation's top medical schools for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The School of Medicine is recognized throughout the international medical community for outstanding achievements in teaching. The School's innovative and pioneering Western Reserve2 curriculum interweaves four themes--research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership, and civic professionalism--to prepare students for the practice of evidence-based medicine in the rapidly changing health care environment of the 21st century. Nine Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the School of Medicine.
Annually, the School of Medicine trains more than 800 MD and MD/PhD students and ranks in the top 25 among U.S. research-oriented medical schools as designated by U.S. News & World Report's "Guide to Graduate Education."
The School of Medicine's primary affiliate is University Hospitals Case Medical Center and is additionally affiliated with MetroHealth Medical Center, the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, with which it established the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University in 2002. http://casemed.case.edu
About Case Comprehensive Cancer Center
Case Comprehensive Cancer Center is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center located at Case Western Reserve University. The center, now in its 25th year of funding, integrates the cancer research activities of the largest biomedical research and health care institutions in Ohio – Case Western Reserve, University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic. NCI-designated cancer centers are characterized by scientific excellence and the capability to integrate a diversity of research approaches to focus on the problem of cancer. It is led by Stanton Gerson, MD, Asa and Patricia Shiverick- Jane Shiverick (Tripp) Professor of Hematological Oncology, director of the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Case Western Reserve, and director of the Seidman Cancer Center at UH Case Medical Center.