The Vermont Cancer Center (VCC) at the University of Vermont (UVM) and Fletcher Allen Health Care hosted a free day-long Clinical and Translational Science Research Symposium, titled "Exercise, Nutrition, and Cancer" in the Davis Auditorium in the Medical Education Center in Fletcher Allen’s Ambulatory Care Center on November 16, 2012. The symposium featured a special presentation – the J. Walter Juckett Distinguished Lecture – titled “Exercise Therapy for Cardiovascular Injury and Tumor Progression in Cancer,” which was delivered by Lee Jones, Ph.D., associate professor and scientific director of the Duke Center for Cancer Survivorship in the Department of Radiation Oncology within the Duke Cancer Institute.
Co-chaired by Susan Lakoski, M.D., UVM assistant professor of medicine and director of cardiovascular prevention, and Kim Dittus, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and oncologist, the symposium's presentations focused on clinical and translational research at the VCC and other cancer research institutions with a particular emphasis on exercise, nutrition, and their overall effect on cancer risks and outcomes. This conference was designed to encourage the collaborations and development of effective processes to foster clinical and translational research pipelines.
Jones’ research focuses on a translational approach to evaluating the cardiovascular/functional impact of cancer therapy, and efficacy of defined exercise training to prevent and/or treat dysfunction, and elucidating the effects, and underlying systemic and molecular mechanisms, of defined aerobic training on tumor progression and metastatic dissemination. A native of Stoke-on-Trent, England, he received a Bachelor of Science degree, with honors, in sport and exercise science from the University of Brighton, then moved to Canada to complete a Master of Science degree in kinesiology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and a Ph.D. in exercise oncology research at the University of Alberta. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta, Jones joined the Program of Cancer Prevention, Detection, and Control at Duke in 2005. He was named director of Cancer Survivorship Research and the Duke Exercise-Oncology Program within the Duke University Health System and Duke Cancer Institute in 2009. The author of numerous scientific articles and book chapters, he is also a member of the International Editorial Board for Lancet Oncology. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, and U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.
In addition to a welcome provided by VCC co-director and director of hematology/oncology Claire Verschraegen, M.D., UVM presenters at the symposium included: Michael Toth, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine; Jean Harvey-Berino, Ph.D., R.D., professor and chair of nutrition and food sciences and associate professor of medicine; Lakoski; and Dittus.
The Lake Champlain Cancer Research Organization has provided support for the Juckett Lecture and the symposium. For more information about the event, including a full agenda and list of speakers, visit the Vermont Cancer Center website or call (802) 656-2176.