Samuel and Barbara Sternberg Cancer Research Foundation

Founder and Executive Director Cora N. Sternberg, MD, FACP

Overview and Background

Medical Oncology is a science in rapid evolution. We are witnessing every day important developments in molecular medicine that clearly have positive impacts on improving cancer treatments. The future will hopefully provide individualized, personalized, tailored treatment based upon modern molecular imaging and genomic sequencing profiling through next generation sequencing of DNA and RNA in tissue and in blood and artificial intelligence. An appreciation of evidenced based medicine has been responsible for most of the progress that has been made until now. To take advantage of the wonderful work in progress and to advance the state of the art in medical research and treatment the Samuel and Barbara Sternberg Cancer Research Foundation- ONLUS was formed.

Vision

The Samuel and Barbara Sternberg Cancer Research Foundation vision is to evaluate more effective therapeutic strategies to facilitate and improve the standard of cancer in Italy and worldwide through the development of new treatments and other innovative approaches. This will involve evaluating new experimental approaches to Oncology, including artificial intelligence, and using pharmaceuticals which often are not yet commercially available. In addition, the foundation will act as a center for innovative research being conducted around the world providing an on-line data base of the most prominent research, status of the trials and summaries of the findings and accomplishments.

Mission

The mission of the Samuel and Barbara Sternberg Cancer Research Foundation is to conduct, develop, coordinate, and stimulate clinical and laboratory research in Italy and worldwide and to improve the management of cancer patients through programs related to patient care, cutting edge research and education. This will be accomplished through genomic and whole genomic DNA sequencing as well as RNA sequencing of patients’ tumors and circulating tumor cells in blood. If molecular drivers are identified, all efforts will be made to obtain the most appropriate pharmaceuticals for these patients. All these elements are focused on curing patients individually while increasing public awareness about cancer, patients’ survival and quality of life.

What are the goals of the Foundation?

Provide scholarships to Italian oncologists, biologists and other health care members for projects related to Precision Medicine

Help young bright oncologists to establish connections with the EIPM and other International Cancer centers

Provide treatments for Oncology patients that have been identified though Precision Medicine

To create a bridge between Italian patients and this cutting-edge new way to treat cancer

Bring Precision Medicine to Italian Hospitals and Italian patients in collaboration with International Consortia

Create connections between different specialists in Italy such as oncology, pathology, radiology and bioinformatics

Create awareness and education among health professionals and patients about the benefits of Precision Medicine

Making new drugs available to patients will be one important goal of the Foundation

Cost is an issue with precision medicine. The Foundation will seek to raise funds through awareness of the potential benefits of Precision Medicine in diagnosing and treating patients.

Precision medicine has largely focused on targeted panels to evaluate potential targets for treatments. Technologies such as sequencing large amounts of DNA have been very expensive to carry out, however, the cost of sequencing is rapidly decreasing. Additionally, drugs that are developed to target a person’s genetic or molecular characteristics are likely to be expensive. The Foundation will also make every effort in make new drugs available to patients.

Who is doctor Cora N. Sternberg?

Dr. Cora Sternberg is an American oncologist who trained at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and was the Chief of Medical Oncology in one of Italy’s largest public hospitals in Rome. Dr. Sternberg was formerly the Chief of Medical Oncology at the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, a complex in Rome which constitutes one of the largest hospitals in Europe.