Leading cancer researchers from Baltimore, Miami and New Jersey have organized the first Joint American-Israeli Conference on Cancer. The meeting, scheduled for March 16 through 18 in Jerusalem, seeks to foster collaboration among physicians and scientists in the two countries. Close to 200 cancer experts from institutions throughout Israel and the United States are expected to attend, making it Israels largest scientific conference in at least four years, according to the conference planners.
We feel that over the past few years, Israel --- pound-for-pound a relative research powerhouse --- has been shortchanged by the lack of convention visitors, said Joseph D. Rosenblatt, M.D., associate director of clinical and translational research at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Worries about security and violence in the Middle East are among the factors that have limited scientific symposia held in Israel.
With this conference, we want to foster ties and recognize the contributions that Israelis make to the international cancer effort and create real opportunities for the development of new therapeutic, prognostic and diagnostic approaches, based on interactions between scientists in this country and in Israel.
Added Robert Korngold, Ph.D., of New Jerseys Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center; We want to demonstrate our support for the Israeli scientists. They've been somewhat isolated and have not had the opportunity to interact with the scientific community worldwide. Theres been no conference of this size there in the last four years.
There has been a long history of productive collaborations between American and Israeli scientists, resulting in significant increases in our understanding and treatment of cancer, said Hyam I. Levitsky, M.D., professor of oncology, medicine and urology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. This conference hopefully will provide new fuel to this fire, sparking ideas, collaborations, and interest among research fellows in visiting institutions abroad.