Peter Johnstone, MD Elected President of Society of Integrative Oncology

Peter Johnstone, MD, FACR, Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Emory's Winship Cancer Institute, has been elected President of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) at the Society's Third Annual International Conference. In addition, Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, associate professor in the Departments of Behavioral Science and Palliative Care & Rehabilitation Medicine, and director of the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, will serve as President-Elect/Vice President of the SIO.

SIO is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary organization of professionals dedicated to studying and facilitating cancer treatment and recovery through the use of integrated complementary therapeutic options. Such options include natural and botanical products, nutrition, acupuncture, massage, mind-body therapies, and other complementary modalities. SIO provides a forum for presentation, discussion, and peer review of evidence-based research in integrative oncology.

Dr. Johnstone is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He earned his MD at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, and an MA in Communications from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. He is also a graduate of specialized training in Medical Acupuncture at UCLA. Dr. Johnstone is the Editor of Current Problems in Cancer; he serves on select committees within the American College of Radiology, the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and the American Radium Society.

He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles as well as numerous review articles, abstracts, and book chapters. Dr. Cohen received his PhD in medical psychology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is currently conducting a number of clinical trials, some funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), examining the effects of psychosocial interventions aimed at reducing the difficult aspects of cancer treatment and improving quality of life through meditation, stress management, emotional writing, yoga, qigong, music therapy, and integrative oncology education.

He is particularly interested in examining different types of complementary medicine programs that can be easily incorporated into conventional treatment to decrease the negative effects often associated with cancer treatment. Dr. Cohen is also PI of an NCI-funded U19 center grant for an International Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for Cancer. "A growing number of cancer patients turn to complementary therapies as part of their cancer treatment plan," says Dr. Johnstone. "Oncologists must have ready access to information about research, existing treatment programs, and the benefits as well as dangers of the various integrative therapies available today. The SIO provides an important forum for presentation, discussion and peer review of evidence-based research and treatment modalities in integrative medicine. Dr. Cohen and I look forward to advancing the mission of this organization and expanding this forum for educating patients and health care professionals."

For more information on the Society for Integrative Medicine, please visit: www.integrativeonc.org

Text from 22 December 2006 Press Release at http://whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?announcement_id_seq=8621