Memorial Sloan Kettering Counseling Center

MSK’s physicians are all experts in their field, who have dedicated themselves to providing the best possible care to our patients. But many of them have also devoted time and energy to pursuing serious passions, including sports.

MSK's Dr. David Abramson, Chief of the Ophthalmic Oncology Service in the Department of Surgery, and Dr. Vincent Laudone, Chief of Surgery at the Josie Robertson Surgery Center, had the honor of competing in the U.S. Masters Swimming Nationals Competition in Indianapolis, Indiana earlier this summer.

“Both Vincent and I are busy surgeons and researchers but for our health, and the health of our patients, we need to be in good shape,” says Dr. Abramson. “We want to be good models for our staff, colleagues and patients, as patients who remain active during and after cancer treatments have better outcomes — which is, after all, our goal in life."

Give a 👍 to them!

Back-to-school season is in full swing! MSK volunteers attended the Back-to-School Resource Fair at Yankee Stadium, an annual event that ensures that local families have access to resources that will help their children succeed in the upcoming school year.

MSK volunteers handed out materials and resources from the MSK Ralph Lauren Center, which offers cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and support services to Harlem and its surrounding neighborhoods.

A new study finds that consuming red meat and processed meat are linked to colon cancer risk in younger adults. MSK's Dr. Neil Iyengar shares what people should know for HuffPost.

New Study Finds Another Link Between Meat And Cancer Red and processed meats have another strike against them.

This , we're giving our Caring Canines a round of a-paws! This team of therapy dogs and trained owners can help lessen anxiety and distress, while bringing comfort and lots of smiles to MSK patients, caregivers, and staff. 🐾

Update: Please be assured we are doing everything we can to reach a reasonable agreement with Anthem. You can get more information and updates here: https://bit.ly/4dSY3i6

The beeping of machines and middle-of-the-night interruptions for blood draws are some of the things that Luke, a pediatric cancer survivor, remembers while being treated at MSK. When he was 15, he spoke at a meeting for MSK’s Patient and Family Advisory Council for Quality (PFACQ), which seeks to improve the patient and caregiver experience.

That initial push inspired a group of MSK doctors, nurses, and volunteers to find ways that some patients might be left alone at night without putting them at risk. This group created the "iSleep Team" and a pilot program was launched for select patients who were considered stable.

The general goal was to give eligible patients a chance to sleep 7 to 9 hours nightly by doing things like avoiding checks of blood pressure, pulse, and breathing rate between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. Nurses still entered the room to check on patients during the night, but would not wake them if they appeared to be sleeping comfortably.

After a year, the response was overwhelmingly positive. In December 2023, the sleep initiative expanded to be available for more patients, based on an assessment of their condition.

As for Luke, he feels gratified that speaking up helped bring attention to the issue. He continues to help the cause of cancer patients and has long been a champion of Cycle for Survival, which raises funds for rare cancer research.

“I was just a kid, but I expressed what other patients feel,” he says. “People listened to me and took action. It’s another example of how MSK puts patients first.”

Learn more about this program: https://bit.ly/3ZaAjCj

Staff Spotlight: April Maas discovered her passion for fundraising after participating in a dance marathon event while in college.

From that moment, she knew that a mission-driven career was going to be important to her, which was one of the many things that drew her to MSK.

April is now the Director of Community Fundraising in Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)’s Development Office, and works with individuals who fundraise for MSK through activities such as galas, bake sales, tribute campaigns, and crowdfunding, such as Comedy vs Cancer and NYC for MSK.

“Raising money for research is imperative in the fight against cancer,” April says. “Fundraising at MSK gives our patients and their families a way to feel that they can support MSK in a tangible way.”

Throughout her decade-long tenure at MSK, April has developed strong relationships with many members of MSK’s donor community for which she feels grateful.

She’s also proud of her career longevity at MSK, and how the organization has evolved over her ten years working here. She shares, “I have seen MSK go through a lot of positive changes. I was able to be an active participant in some of these changes and look forward to continuing to make an impact in our future.”

Learn more about MSK’s Giving efforts: https://giving.mskcc.org/

The importance of regular self-exams to check for cancer is not lost on Burke, a two-time testicular cancer survivor.

Burke was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016 and treated at another hospital. After a self-exam 4.5 years later, Burke felt something odd. At a friend’s recommendation, he sought care at MSK. “For many reasons my second cancer was a lot tougher on me, but the transcendent care at MSK made all of the difference for me and my family.”

His care team included genitourinary oncologist Dr. Darren Feldman and urologic surgeon Dr. Joel Scheinfeld, part of MSK’s Urology Service, ranked #1 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. “I was truly blown away by the care and attention to detail that MSK offered at every turn.”

Burke recently hit 3.5 years with no evidence of disease, but continues to stay connected to MSK in another way: through running.

“My biggest hobby is running, which became a big part of my life during the pandemic, but especially as my physical and emotional therapy when dealing with my second cancer diagnosis and the recovery,” Burke says. He’s especially become involved in MSK’s Fred's Team - MSKCC team community, by fundraising with his teammates on ‘Burke’s Team’. Since 2021, ‘Burke’s Team’ has raised more than $100,000.

Aside from running, Burke enjoys spending time with his wife, Jesse, and their three children, as well as fighting crime in Baltimore City, where he’s a criminal prosecutor.

Give a 👟 for Burke as he continues to run with Fred’s Team and train for the TCS New York City Marathon this year!

Targeting: 15- 39, Lymphoma advocacy groups (LRF, LLS, ETc)

Many adolescent and young adult cancer patients face financial toxicity because of the costs associated with treatment and the long-term impacts on their lives. People with Hodgkin lymphoma treated for relapsed/refractory disease are at particularly high risk.

Have you experienced financial toxicity? If so, please complete our 15-minute anonymous survey: https://bit.ly/3SLZ0ke

In recognition of the Olympics coming to a close, we are highlighting one of our MSK colleagues who's made a major splash – both at MSK and past Olympics events.

Dr. Valeria Silva Merea, an MSK laryngologist and two-time Olympic swimmer, comes from a long line of athletes. “Both of my parents played volleyball, and my mom competed in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal in the sport.”

But Dr. Silva chose the pool. She began swimming when she was five years old and started competing just two years later. “I fell in love with the water and challenging myself in the pool’,” she says.

After narrowly missing the qualifying time for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, she felt more motivated to improve, especially on the international stage. She went on to compete in the 100m breaststroke in both the 2004 Olympics in Athens and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, representing her home country, Peru.

“It was a true dream, and two of the best days of my life,” she said.

She’s since used that determination and dedication when treating patients at MSK.

“There are certainly parallels between my current work and competing and training for the Olympics,” Dr. Silva says. “It’s similar in that there’s a team of people behind you, supporting you. For the Olympics, you have coaches, trainers, your family, sports psychologists. Here at MSK, I have my nurses, disease management team, coordinators, and more coming together to provide the best possible care for the patient.”

Dr. Silva continues to swim recreationally, and loves spending time with her 3-year-old son and her husband.

Give a 🏊 for Dr. Silva!

Are you making these common mistakes when applying sunscreen? Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon at MSK, shares his tips for how to correctly apply sunscreen to prevent skin cancer for HuffPost.

The Biggest Mistakes People Make With Sunscreen, According To Dermatologists Some of these definitely aren't what you'd expect to hear.

Imagine finding out that your bone marrow or blood stem cells could save the life of someone who needed it. That's exactly what happened to MSK nurse Grace Yang who, in the spring of 2024, donated to a stranger who needed her cells for a stem cell transplant.

“This is definitely something I was never expecting to happen to me,” Grace says. “But because I work in the Bone Marrow Transplant [BMT] Service, I knew the impact it could have on somebody else’s life. It felt like a privilege to be able to help in a different way.”

Stem cell and bone marrow donations can offer people with blood cancer and other blood diseases the best chance for a cure. There is an urgent need for more donors between the ages of 18 and 40, especially donors of non-European and mixed ancestry. Grace, who is of Asian ancestry, was 29 when she donated.

One way that donors are found is through NMDP, which maintains a registry for connecting unrelated volunteer donors with patients in need.

Grace signed up for the NMDP registry through a community drive. More than a decade later, she learned she was a match with a patient. “I encourage all the people around me to sign up,” she says. “They are shocked that it’s so easy.”

Grace has not yet learned anything about the patient who received her cells, but hopes to in the coming months. “I just feel so lucky that I was able to do something amazing for somebody else,” she says.

Learn more about the process of donating bone marrow and stem cells: https://www.mskcc.org/news/stem-cell-bone-marrow-donation-process?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Organic+Social&utm_term=&utm_content=Image+of+Grace&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Posts+August+2024

This Olympic season, we are reminded that passion and commitment can make dreams become reality. We celebrate the work of every team member at MSK, who show medal-worthy dedication to compassionate care, specialized education programs, and innovative research as part of our mission of ending cancer for life. 🏅

Sammy is a healthy 16-year-old and a top varsity athlete. But 18 months ago, his life was very different. Since age 4, Sammy had been coping with ulcerative colitis. During a colonoscopy in November 2021, his gastroenterologist saw an unusual area, which turned out to be a high-grade neuroendocrine carcinoma.

He and his family sought help from MSK Kids — the pediatric department at MSK. “During that first meeting, we met the entire pediatric team,” says Larry, Sammy’s dad. “We walked in, and it was just beautiful. Sammy loved the big fish tank in the waiting area."

The team decided that Sammy's first treatment should be chemotherapy to destroy as much of the tumor as possible and reduce the risk that it would spread. After he recovered from chemotherapy, Sammy was scheduled for surgery. The drugs had destroyed 95% of his tumor, but there was a high risk it would come back.

Four months after surgery, his doctors gave him the good news: His body had fully healed. It was perfect timing for his first chance to try out for a high school sport. He made the varsity soccer team playing goalie — an impressive accomplishment for a freshman, especially someone who’d been through aggressive cancer treatment.

Beyond their relief, Sammy and his parents also appreciated how his care team spoke to him directly, explaining everything in terms he could understand. “It’s just another way that every member of the staff went above and beyond,” Larry says.

Dr. Ellen Horste, an alumni from the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK) at MSK, says her time investigating fundamental biological questions prepared her for a career in the emerging field of gene therapy.

"I got a world-class education in molecular biology - and it put me a position where I could be open to a variety of career paths working on a variety of diseases," Dr. Horste says.

Currently, Dr. Horste is a payload engineer for a gene therapy startup, designing genetic elements that get loaded into a virus for delivery into the human body. Once deployed, the treatment’s job is to make therapeutic proteins to replace missing or defective ones.

While she’s not at liberty to disclose the specific medical conditions her work aims to address, Dr. Horste says her education and training at GSK did a great job in preparing her for the role.

Read more about Dr. Horste and GSK: https://bit.ly/4ftGUNB

A family that seeks treatment together, stays together...or at least that’s the case for husband and wife duo Julia and Ian, who have been together for 10 years.

It all started ten years ago when a nodule formed on Julia’s thyroid. Doctors kept an eye on it, but her latest ultrasound showed a change in its appearance. A biopsy confirmed that Julia had thyroid cancer.

At this point, something extremely out of the ordinary happened. “While I was going through the process of obtaining my biopsy results...our primary care physician felt a lump in Ian's thyroid. He got imaging and coincidentally also had a mass,” says Julia. “Funny enough, our tumors wound up both being on the left side and were almost exactly the same size!"

Friends and family recommended they receive care at MSK where they were introduced to MSK head and neck surgeon Dr. Ashok Shaha. Julia says, “When Ian and I both found out we had thyroid tumors, we knew we wanted our care to be at the same place. After having a great first experience at our appointment with Dr. Shaha, we chose MSK for all our care.”

Julia and Ian both had partial thyroidectomies, both on the left side, and on the same day. “Everyone we met couldn't believe that we both had thyroid cancer (and were having our surgery by the same doctor on the same day),” says Julia. "Even though it was a crazy coincidence, we couldn't have had a better experience throughout the entire process.”

A year post surgery, Julia and Ian are doing well and enjoying life by hanging out in the park with their dog, Kona, playing with their new niece, Tessa, and hosting dinner parties with friends.

Leave a 👏 in the comments for Julia and Ian!

Patients, family members and staff recently participated in the MSK Kids Annual Talent Show, showcasing a wide variety of talents including dancing, singing, and magic tricks!

A new study found that nearly half of cancer deaths could be prevented with lifestyle changes. MSK breast medical oncologist Dr. Neil Iyengar explains what habits may lower your cancer risk for Prevention Magazine.

Nearly Half of Cancer Deaths May Be Prevented With These Lifestyle Changes, Study Finds Experts explain what habits may help lower your risk.

Part of the work of MSK's Patient and Family Advisory Council for Quality (PFACQ) is giving a voice to the experience of cancer treatment and survivorship.

Recently, two PFACQ members were asked to join a panel discussion on "Building Belonging, Body Inclusivity: My Body and My Health." They spoke about the physical changes they endured from their disease and treatments and how that has impacted their lives.

The experiences they, and others, have shared about the impact of treatment helps MSK improve care and elevate patient voices. Learn more about how you can elevate the patient experience by joining MSK's PFACQ: https://bit.ly/3WgMv13

Staff Spotlight: Nicole Wood has been a social worker for 14 years, a field she says that allows her to meet people where they are.

“I wanted to make meaningful connections with people to better understand their challenges and how to make a positive impact,” she says.

As a social worker at MSK for more than two years, Nicole has been able to partner with MSK patients and families facing a cancer diagnosis.

“My role at MSK allows me to be a part of an interdisciplinary team and connect with people when they experience challenges that a cancer diagnosis and treatment can bring," she says.

In addition, Nicole shares that the training and experience of the social workers at MSK has allowed her to provide highly specialized support and counseling to those seeking help.

Leave a 🙌 in the comments for Nicole and all of our MSK social workers!

Three years ago, Cathleen was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. After receiving a mastectomy in 2021, her annual mammograms and ultrasounds that followed came back clear. However, this year was different. Radiologists at MSK found an irregular mass in Cathleen’s breast. She received a biopsy which thankfully turned out to be benign breast parenchyma.

Cathleen shares the anxiety she felt: “The timeframe from the diagnosis to waiting for the results was definitely stressful and I wondered if there would be the possibility of recurrence of breast cancer,” she says. “It also put into very clear focus what survivorship will be like: Ongoing monitoring and tests with the hopes that the cancer doesn’t return.”

When she reflects on the care she received at MSK, Cathleen says “the point of differentiation for MSK was how physicians and nurses were incredibly empathetic and supportive. I learned they closely review feedback from patient surveys and incorporate some of these recommendations in overall patient care.”

Today, Cathleen is feeling great and says it’s “back to business as usual.” For this busy New Yorker, that means visiting museums, seeing the ballet at Lincoln Center, and catching up with friends over dinner.

Leave a 👏 in the comments for Cathleen!

Learn how you can protect your skin against skin cancer with these tips from MSK dermatologist Dr. Anthony Rossi.

This Doctor Has Treated Thousands Of Skin Cancer Cases. Here Are 9 Things He'd Never Do. If you're only using sunscreen on sunny days, this doctor would like to have a word with you.

🚨This just in: MSK has been recognized as the #2 cancer center in the nation and #1 for urology care by U.S. News & World Report in its annual Best Hospitals listing. This marks the 35th consecutive year that MSK has ranked among the top two cancer hospitals in the country and been honored as the top-ranked cancer center in the Northeast.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4eWOnEV

It's been a fantastic Staff Appreciation Week! 🎉 Join us in showing gratitude for the outstanding team at MSK and their collaborative work and contributions towards our mission of ending cancer for life.

For Jennifer Brosnan, an Associate Director for Content Operations at MSK, joining Cycle for Survival was initially a way to honor her aunt who died of leukemia. Jennifer was working as a television news producer when a friend invited her to hop on a stationary bike and join their Cycle for Survival team.

Several years later, Jennifer landed a job at MSK and in a matter of months, she became captain of In It To Spin It, the MSK Marketing & Communication department’s Cycle for Survival team.

Jennifer has participated in Cycle for Survival rides for 12 years and along the way, she and her team have raised more than $136,000 for rare cancer research, with 100% of every dollar going directly to MSK labs.

Through her work, Jennifer makes regular visits to MSK labs and clinics for film shoots. She says that meeting researchers and seeing the results of her fundraising is one of the best parts of her job.

“It’s truly a direct line of impact,” she says. “I feel lucky to be here.”

Staff Spotlight: Rachel Duff, a Team Lead in Outpatient Operations at MSK Monmouth, oversees the infusion and pharmacy unit and is known for fostering strong bonds with patients.

Rachel's career path was inspired by her aunt's experience with breast cancer at the age of 40. “Despite this scary setback in her life, my aunt was overwhelmingly positive about her experience as a patient at MSK,” Rachel shares. “This inspired me to consider a career here.”

After recently celebrating her sixth anniversary at MSK, Rachel feels fortunate to have a job that allows her to build meaningful relationships.

“Everyone has a different story, and patients come to MSK when they are often in a difficult place in life," Rachel says. "I strive to be kind in all interactions because I never know where someone is in life and what they are going through.”