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Minutes of the meeting of May 21, 2000Place: Hyatt Regency, 500 Poydras Place, New Orleans, LARoom: Esplanade A. Time: 6:30 – 8:30Present:
*: (Country of birth/Country of current employment)
Meeting agenda:
Welcome and introduction:Dr. Christopher Williams, who convened the meeting, welcomed the participants. He also thanked the sponsors of the meeting, Merck KgaA (Darmstadt, Germany) Genentech (USA), Orthobiotech (USA). He also thanked Dr. Oscar Kashala who was the contact person to Merck KgaA, and Dr. ‘Funmi Olopade, the contact person to Genentech (USA) and Orthobiotech (USA). AORTIC: A historical perspectiveDr. William described how AORTIC came to being and introduced the AORTIC (International) Steering Committee and talked about the development that had occurred since the San Francisco meeting at which AORTIC (International) was inaugurated. Dr. Holland also gave a historic evaluation and talked about Dr. Charles Gombe's involvement as AORTIC President. He informed the participants that there was money in an account in Africa, to which he and Dr. Charles Gombe are signatories. He suggested that Dr. Gombe should be contacted and to be informed that AORTIC has been reactivated Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising:Dr. Charles Olweny asked about the WHO involvement. Dr. Holland responded by saying that WHO was not involved in the reactivation of AORTIC at this time. He, however, hoped their headquarters in Africa could be used for secretariat support and that they might help with transportation money to meetings when the need arises Dr. Hammodi asked what AORTIC would do about communication in French, the other official language of the organisation. Dr. Holland advised that language should not be a divisor within the organisation, and Dr. Williams answered that, although transactions at this meeting were in English, ideally, there should be French translations as well. In reply to a question as to the absence of South African participation at the meeting, Dr. Williams said that he had contacted at least 10 South Africans by e-mail. He suggested that there were many social events going on at ASCO and that this might be delaying the arrival of many potential participants, including those from South Africa. Dr. Williams also informed the meeting that he had contacted Ian Magrath of the International Cancer Treatment Network based in Brussels, Belgium. It was suggested that he should be invited to be a member of the Board of Scientific Advisers. AORTIC InternationalDr. Williams reviewed the achievements of AORTIC International since its creation a few weeks earlier at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in San Francisco. Organizational Issues1. Reviewing the achievements of the AORTIC International, Dr. Williams said that these included: Establishment of e-mail discussion group for the Steering Committee A draft of a model for the organization (see attachment). Dr. Holland suggested that an Executive director is not necessary at this time when the organization has no money for an office or salary. We should operate the organization on volunteer bases to establish communication first. Dr. Williams described his vision of the duties of an Executive Director as including that of a full-time or part-time Chief Executive who would “grow” AORTIC and in the process “grow” himself or herself. Others felt that the Steering Committee was doing a good job and its effort was commended. It was finally agreed that the organizational structure proposed by the Steering Committee should be “considered as anticipated,” and should therefore be accepted with provision for adjustment in the future. It was generally recognized the discussion of organizational matters was difficult in the absence of a constitution. Dr. Sulma Mohammed initiated the discussion on the issue. A Constitution Drafting Committee was agreed upon to consist of all members of the Steering Committee and three African participants at the conference. These were one member each from Nigeria (Dr. Adebayo Adebamowo), Tunisia (Dr. Hammoudi Bussen) and Kenya (Dr. Nicholas Othieno-Abinya). Dr. Jimmie Holland volunteered to help with the constitution and registration of the organization with help of her daughter who is an international lawyer in New York City. She will also ask Dr. Jeremy Lundsberg, the Webmaster for the International Psycho Oncology Society to develop a web page for AORTIC. Funding:Various ways of fund-raising were discussed, including membership annual dues, meeting registration fees, fund-raising events, and grants from drug companies and other grant-donating bodies. Next Scientific and Business Meeting:The recommendation from the San Francisco meeting that the next AORTIC meeting be held in Africa was upheld in New Orleans. Dr. Williams proposed three cities, including Cairo, Egypt, Cape Town, South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa and Abuja, Nigeria. Dr. Nicholas Othieno-Abinya of Kenya proposed Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Williams explained that he had not included any francophone cities because all previous meetings of AORTIC had been held in such cities. Nairobi, Kenya was unanimously selected as the venue of the next AORTIC meeting. It was agreed that the meeting would take place in September 2001. The local organising committee would fix the exact date and venue of the meeting. Dr Nicholas Othieno-Abinya of Kenya agreed to organize the meeting in Nairobi in collaboration with AORTIC International. Other matters:i.) Dr. Holland proposed a study to be done in African centres. It would be to test the efficacy in some solid tumours of low dose Cyclophosphamide and TNP 470. The latter drug is apparently an anti-angiogenesis factor. The proposed study was to test the efficacy of “metronomic” style chemotherapy, a concept that was recently developed by Dr. Judah Folkman of the Harvard Medical School. He felt that such a protocol would probably be well funded by drug companies. He proposed a protocol drafting committee including Dr. Chris Williams, Dr. Charles Olweny and Dr. Charles Gombe. Dr. Williams expressed the view that the study might not be politically feasible and Dr. Holland agreed. But he thinks that a small pilot study would be better than nothing. ii.) At the San Francisco meeting it was suggested that the members of the Steering Committee should attend the meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), with a view to holding similar orientation meetings about AORTIC. However, it was felt that this would not be advisable in view of financial expenses and the small number of people who are likely to show up at such meetings. iii.) Dr. Holland also recommended that a survey be conducted to identify oncologists in Africa who would be interested in trying new treatments for cancer inAfrica. iv.) Also it was suggested that the membership for AORTIC shouldn't be limited to medical oncologists, it should include surgeons, radiation oncologists, non-clinical research scientists, nurses, or who ever has to do with cancer treatment and management. Items for further Action:Proposed Structure as anticipated Constitution International Psycho Oncology Society to give support and to create a web page. The first AORTIC meeting under the new reviving committee will be held September 2000 at Nairobi, Kenya and Dr. Nicholas Othieno-Abinya will decide the date with a local committee and will contact the World Health Organization for money and transportation. |
 
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