Jorge Oster 2010 Awardees: Rivas, Rey, Panero, Raffa and Mentz (from left to right)

The award-winners who will be travelling abroad during 2010 are Ricardo Esteban Mentz, Julieta Panero, Carlos Ignacio Raffa, Leandro Alberto Rey and Martín Alfredo Rivas. The Jorge Oster Awards are aimed at helping professionals to acquire and use new skills, technologies and resources in the field of oncology which are currently unavailable in this country. The idea is that they will be able to contribute to the well-being and recovery of cancer patients in Argentina.

The award scheme, set up by the family of Don Jorge Oster (1867--1964), commemorates the achievements of this leading figure, who by the age of 20 already held a management position in Bunge y Born. In 1920 he became a member of the board and just eight years later, company vice-chairman, a post he held until he retired in 1949. He is remembered for his enterprising nature, extraordinary intelligence and open mindedness as regards all aspects of knowledge, learning and progress. He had unflagging energy and a deep-seated faith in the future of Argentina, his adopted homeland.

The jury panel responsible for choosing the 2010 awardees involved a new team of experts, the fourth time the panel has changed since the grants were created in 2000. The new members are Dr Marta Barontini, Dr Mercedes Gamboni and Dr Alejandra Picconi, who join the previous members Dr Ernesto Podestá, Dr Berta Roth and Dr Guillermo di Paola. Dr Enrique rejoins the team, having been a jury member from 2004  to 2006. The entire panel has worked hard to make the program a success.

The 10th award brings to 69 the total of Argentines who have had the chance to better their competences and skills in the field of oncology in some of the world’s leading centers of health and research thanks to the Jorge Oster Awards. These include institutions in the US, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain.

The winners of the Jorge Oster Awards 2010 are:

Dr Ricardo Esteban Mentz (32), from the General Surgery Service of the Hospital Italiano (Buenos Aires). Dr Mentz has three months in which to develop his paper on “The multi-disciplinary treatment of rectal cancer” at the Colorectal Surgery Residency, Cleveland Clinic, Weston, Florida, USA.

Biotechnology Lic. Julieta Panero (28), from the Genetics Department of the Hematological Research Mariano Castex Institute of the Academia Nacional de Medicina. A two-month grant will enable Ms Panero to develop her project on “The determination of the telomeric longitude in neoplastic lymphoids using absolute PCR quantification in real time”, at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Food and Nutricional Sciences, Adelaide, Australia.

Dr. Carlos Ignacio Raffa (41) from the Abdominal and Proctology Surgery Department at the Angel H. Roffo Oncology Institute. Dr Raffa has a grant for two months to develop his paper on “Learning how to handle the treatment of peritoneal surface tumors at a referent public institute”, at the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England.

Dr. Leandro Alberto Rey (39) from the Radiology Therapy Department at the Angel H. Roffo Oncology Institute. The grant offers Dr. Rey three months to develop his paper on the “Planning and radiotherapy simulation in metabolic images” at the Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja, in Logroño, Spain.

Lic. Martin Alfredo Rivas (29) from the Molecular Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis Laboratory at the Experimental Medicine and Biology Institute. A three-month grant to develop his paper on “Progestagen regulation of micro RNA in breast cancer: a new mechanism to regulate breast cancer growth”, at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ohio State University, Ohio, USA.
It should be remembered that cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world and is currently on the rise. It is predicted that cancer-related deaths will rise by 45% during the period from 2007 to 2030 (from 7.9 million to 11. 5 million deaths) due in part to demographic growth and also to the general aging of the population worldwide.