The Pediatric Proton Foundation (PPF) was in full force at the Annual Meeting of ASTRO in Miami Beach, from Oct. 1-5, 2011. Volunteers, Susan Ralston, Executive Director, and Ann-Marie Lewis visited from the headquarters area in Virginia Beach and participated in numerous key meetings with old friends and many new friends. Susan Ralston states, "the proton community is a small world, indeed, and there are so many great people involved in the science and application, it is inspiring to see collaberation and fellowship in action." The Pediatric Proton Foundation recently partnered with the National Association for Proton Therapy to release survey results from pediatric patients treated with protons in 2010. The study is available here.
The Annual Meeting of the PPF was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Oct. 3, 2011 in attendance included founders, Dr. Sameer Keole, ProCure - Oklahoma City and Dr. Cynthia Keppel, Hampton University Proton Therapy Center. Other top notch professional volunteers include proton therapy consultant Dr. Andrew Chang and Dr. Daniel Indelicato of the University of Florida Proton Therapy Center. Dr. Vivian Porche, from MD Anderson, was unable to attend this year. New applicants for the board were considered (stay tuned) and other important topics were discussed to include the 2011 Pediatric Proton Therapy Survey.
Many thanks to the supporters of our foundation. We are reminded daily about those special children and their parents who are fighting cancer today and every day. Our mission is clear - we want to see every child that qualifies for proton therapy to get it because it reduces the radiation long term effects to healthy surrounding organs and tissues. We support more proton centers to be able to serve the need. We support proton therapy as the standard of care for appropriate cases of pediatric radiation cancer treatment.
