Dr. Alexandre Chan Honored with 2023 Innovator Award from Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)
Dr. Alexandre Chan, founding chair of the Department of Clinical Pharmacy Practice at the UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, was granted the 2023 Innovator Award by the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)!
The Innovator Award is given each year by MASCC. This year, the award was presented at the organization’s annual meeting in Nara, Japan, in conjunction with their Japanese affiliate (the Japanese Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, or JASCC) and the International Society for Oral Oncology (ISOO).
The award “recognizes an individual with novel, bold thinking, impactful, non-traditional, out-of-the-box idea(s) that have changed or enhanced direction, practices, and services in supportive care in cancer (related to MASCC or outside of MASCC) within the past two (2) years,” as stated by the organization.
Chan was nominated by a fellow colleague within MASCC, who cited innovative patient care models that were implemented at two cancer centers over the past two years.
At the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chan implemented a project funded by the Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association that involves the use of patient-reported outcomes and real-time analytics from cancer patients to improve supportive care and symptom management by oncology pharmacists. This program also aims to better care for patients who are members of ethnic minority communities. Patients who have participated in the program benefited from thorough education and increased communication, allowing for timely, effective adjustments to treatment.
The nomination also highlights Chan’s care model that was implemented at the National Cancer Centre Singapore. “Accessible Cancer Care to Enable Support for Cancer Survivors,” or ACCESS, involved a systematic process to identify concerns from cancer survivors who were undergoing treatment and connect them with proper care. Survivors who were identified as “highly distressed” were evaluated in further detail by a supportive care team and linked with pharmacists, doctors, nurses, therapists, community services, and other providers to address their needs. Over 1800 breast and gynecological cancer survivors benefited from this innovative care model.
“It is truly my honor to receive the Innovator Award from MASCC,” shared Chan. “As an oncology pharmacist, it is my top priority to improve pharmaceutical care in cancer patients and rethink traditional approaches to patient support. Ultimately, I hope my work can benefit the larger community by alleviating cancer-related symptoms, minimizing treatment-related toxicities, and improving patients’ quality of life.”
As an avid clinician and researcher in cancer supportive care, Chan has been involved with MASCC for many years. He was a board member from 2012-2020 and has served as treasurer, membership chair, and vice chair of the neurological complications study group. He is currently on the board of directors and is a subgroup lead of the cancer-related cognitive impairment subgroup of the neurological complications study group. He is also the deputy editor in chief of the organization’s journal, Supportive Care in Cancer. He will be the Scientific Chair of the 2024 annual meeting, a role he fulfilled at the 2022 meeting in Toronto. Chan was previously recognized by MASCC as the recipient of the Steven M. Grunberg Memorial Award in 2015.
Congratulations to Dr. Alexandre Chan on this well-deserved recognition of his groundbreaking work.