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DDF Scientific and Medical Advisory Board Vice Chair Named 2017 ASTRO Honorary Member
Prestigious radiation oncology organization grants its highest nonmember award to leading researcher and medical oncologist Edith P. Mitchell, MD, FACP

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sept. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) congratulates its Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) Vice Chair Edith P. Mitchell, MD, FACP for being chosen as the 2017 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Honorary Member. Mitchell is a leading researcher, medical oncologist and proponent of combined modality treatment. She will be given this highest honor that ASTRO awards to distinguished cancer researchers and leaders in disciplines outside radiation physics at ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting in San Diego on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.

"Combined modality therapy and working with radiation oncologists and physicians from other disciplines allows better research and understanding of cancer, potentiating efforts toward personalized medicine," said Dr. Mitchell. "This has resulted in better outcomes with increased cures and reduced toxicities and overall improved patient care. I am very humbled and most appreciative of this recognition by my colleagues."

Mitchell is a highly esteemed leader in internal medicine and medical oncology who has authored or co-authored more than 130 articles, book chapters, and abstracts on cancer treatment, prevention and cancer control. She serves as the associate director for diversity programs and director of the Center to Eliminate Cancer Disparities for the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Dr. Mitchell also serves as a clinical professor of Medical Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Jefferson. In addition, she served as the 116th president of the National Medical Association. Dr. Mitchell was also named to the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative's Blue Ribbon Panel in 2016. In 2015, she received the Medical Tree of Life Award from DDF for her outstanding contributions to the field and support of the organization. Dr. Mitchell joined DDF's SMAB in 2012 and became Vice Chair in 2016 to advise the organization on specific medical and clinical aspects of stomach (gastric), esophageal, and GE junction cancer as it relates to DDF programs. She will complete her two-year term as Vice Chair in 2018.

For more information about DDF, visit http://www.DebbiesDream.org or call (954) 475-1200.

About Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer
Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about gastric cancer, advancing funding for research, and providing education and support internationally to patients, families, and caregivers. Debbie's Dream Foundation seeks as its ultimate goal to make the cure for stomach cancer a reality.

DDF was founded in 2009 by Debbie Zelman after she was diagnosed with stage IV incurable stomach cancer in 2008 and given only weeks to live. DDF now has a Medical Advisory Board of world renowned doctors and has chapters throughout the United States and also in Canada and Germany. Considered a "Super Survivor," Debbie is still receiving chemotherapy 9 years later and is thrilled to be able to watch her three children grow up. To learn more about DDF, please visit us at www.DebbiesDream.org.

About ASTRO
ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology * Biology * PhysicsPractical Radiation Oncology and Advances in Radiation Oncology; developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute, a nonprofit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit http://www.astro.org.

Media Contact:
Brittnay Starks
Communications Coordinator
Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer
(954) 475-1200
177382@email4pr.com
www.DebbiesDream.org

SOURCE Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer