UNM Cancer Center Researcher Receives Prestigious International Award

Dr. Marianne Berwick, epidemiologist at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, was recently recognized by the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) for her groundbreaking skin cancer research. In November 2008, Berwick attended the Annual Scientific Meeting in Australia, where she was awarded the prestigious COSA Marryalyan Award. The award was given to only eight researchers worldwide, hailing from prominent institutions around the world.

The three-day COSA Annual Scientific Meeting is the most significant national multidisciplinary cancer meeting in Australia, with representation from all aspects of professional cancer care, including medicine, surgery, radiation, nursing, pharmacy, research, psychology and other disciplines. Berwick’s research efforts are concentrated in population health sciences, cancer health disparities and cancer control, with an emphasis on melanoma. The importance of COSA’s endorsement of Berwick’s skin cancer research efforts cannot be understated.

“In Australia, melanoma is a significant concern, more so than any other place in the world. So it is very exciting that our efforts over the last twenty years are being recognized there,” Berwick said. “To have them validate our work is very encouraging.”

COSA asked Berwick to give two talks during the meeting, and she spoke about gene environment interaction in melanoma, as well as using tumor banks, such as the New Mexico Tumor Registry at the UNM Cancer Center in Albuquerque, for population-based treatment.

As the only National Cancer Institute-designated center in the state, the UNM Cancer Center provides an ideal setting for Dr. Berwick to continue cultivating her epidemiologic research. New Mexico has a higher incidence of melanoma than any other state in the nation, and cancer disparities vary widely among different populations. Berwick’s work continues outside the lab, and she regularly collaborates with other UNM Cancer Center members to coordinate community outreach projects among Hispanic, Native American and remote rural populations. “We were able to combine my work in the lab with community contacts in order to disseminate prevention and treatment information for populations that typically do not receive it soon enough,” Berwick said. “That’s really what I believe my research is all about.”