The American Cancer Society has hired Catherine Alfano for the new position of VP of cancer survivorship. She started Feb. 27.
Alfano's position is part of the ACS Patient and Caregiver Support Department and the society's cancer-control team. She previously worked as a program director at the National Cancer Institute's behavioral research program.
"Catherine is a nationally and internationally recognized figure in cancer survivorship," Katherine Sharpe, ACS senior VP of patient and caregiver support, said in a news release (PDF). "She has worked tirelessly to improve cancer rehabilitation and ways to improve the health and quality of life for cancer survivors.”
Alfano, 39, joined the NCI—which is part of HHS' National Institutes of Health—in 2008. She worked as deputy director of the office of cancer survivorship and as acting chief of the NCI Health Behaviors Research Branch. She was responsible for strategic research initiatives, survivorship-policy issues and collaborations with other organizations, according to the release.
Alfano's research initiatives included exploring how underlying biology accelerated aging in cancer survivors and the mechanisms by which physical activity and weight control affected prognosis. She worked on collaborations looking at how to translate research on surviving cancer into cancer care.
Alfano previously was on the faculty at Ohio State University College of Public Health, the OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center and the OSU Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.
Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks
