The world of cancer information
INTERNATIONAL CANCER INFORMATION SERVICE GROUP
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meeting August 29, 2008
12:00 – 1:30 pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel
Geneva
Meeting attended by:
Chris Thomsen (President) thomsenc@mail.nih.gov
Doreen Akkerman Doreen.Akkerman@cancervic.org.au
Mary Anne Bright bright@mail.nih.gov
Silvia Den den@swisscancer.ch
Marianne Duperray mduperray@institutcancer.fr
Catherine Dickens dickenscm@yahoo.co.uk
Roshini George Roshini.George@cancer.org
Cora Honing choning@kwfkankerbestrijding.nl
Martin Ledwick Martin.Ledwick@cancer.org.uk
Marion Morra morram@earthlink.net
Monika Preszly m.preszly@dkfz.de
Tomoko Takayama totakaya@ncc.go.jp
Anne Vézina avezina@cancer.ca
Ex-officio:
Gillian Batt gillb@nswcc.org.au
Amanda Hordern Amanda.Hordern@cancervic.org.au
Ana Olivera olivera@uicc.org
Regrets:
Francesco de Lorenzo fdelorenzo@aimac.it
Enclosures – distributed prior to the conference call with the agenda:
- Agenda
- Minutes of Board conference call June 11, 2008
- Applications for ICISG membership (3)
- ICISG strategic plan 2008-2010
1. Welcome and adoption of minutes of meeting
- Chris T called the meeting to order and introduced the agenda.
- The minutes of the June 11, 2008 meeting were approved as submitted. Irene M. will send them to ICISG members by listserv and will post on the ICISG website.
- Anne V will draft the AGM meeting minutes and distribute for review and comments.
2. President’s remarks
- Chris T welcomed new Board members and congratulated all for a successful presence at the Congress. She invited Marion M and others to share their impressions of the course. Marion reported a high satisfaction by course participants, as per preliminary results from the course evaluation. Doreen indicated that she would publish the evaluation results in the Daily Cancer News, (distribution to UICC members around the world).
- Irene will make a list of all course participants which will provide a list for follow-up by ICISG and UICC. Irene will ensure that course participants receive a password to the CIS Toolbox when they contact her.
- Chris thanked UICC for their sponsorship of the course, the Swiss Cancer League for hosting the rehearsal and the AGM and ACS for the sponsorship of the ICISG reception.
3. Governance
- Chris emphasized the importance of having CIS Directors as Board members. She noted that many Board members who first joined as CIS Directors have since moved to other positions within their organization. Succession for long serving Board members by CIS Directors is being implemented.
- Chris also introduced the idea of an Advisory Council (members would be retiring Board members). The ICISG Advisory Council could enable linkages between ICISG and other cancer organization leaders while supporting ICISG or Board members to address issues, such as representing their CIS program through leadership change.
- Chris and Anne will develop a draft proposal for the ICISG Advisory Council.
- Ana O encouraged the Board to consider ICISG becoming a UICC member. She explained that UICC membership now includes common interest groups. Further details can be requested from Alina Pawlowska at UICC.
- Chris T asked the Board to think about the concept of having a ICISG regional chapter (for example a European ICISG chapter). A regional chapter would provide opportunities for more frequent support and exchanges to many CIS in one geographical area, in addition to the CIS course.
- Chris T indicated that ICISG is exploring a potential collaboration with ECL and has received interest from several European CIS for attending a course and become members.
- Chris T outlined the role of Board members. She explained that Board members are expected to participate actively (as individual and/or with their organization offering to host a meeting, host cancer organizations) and for their organization to contribute some in kind support. She emphasized the role of Board members as advocate for ICISG or CIS programs and encouraged everyone to share news or new program directions with each other. She confirmed that ICISG will meet once per year in person.
- Chris T referred to the ICISG Strategic Plan 2008-2010 and encouraged everyone to read it. She noted that other foundational documents (core values, board by-laws) were updated last year and that the web will be refreshed and updated in the next year.
4. Vice President Election
- Anne V explained the process followed for the VP nominations. The Board unanimously approved the nomination of Roshini George as the new ICISG Vice President.
5. ICISG membership application
- Three applications were received during the summer and were approved as follows:
- Centro Oncologico Buenos Aires, Argentina – approved for full membership.
- International Medical Association, Bulgaria – approved for associate membership.
- Children Living With Cancer Foundation – approved for associate membership.
- Irene will confirm the membership to each organization by letter.
6. CIS workshop
- Chris T noted that it was too soon to confirm if ICISG would be present in Beijing in 2010.
- Roshini G will explore possible venues for the next CIS workshop. One option might be to apply for a UICC workshop sponsorship to coincide with another cancer specific conference.
- The Board indicated that, in the next 2 years, it would be desirable to host one course and 2 consulting visits.
7. Collaborations
- Chris T noted that the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UICC expires in December 2008. All Board members were in favour of continuing the successful collaboration with UICC, perhaps with a new focus on workshops sponsorships or fellowships.
- Discussion with ACS will continue to explore potential projects for collaboration.
- Chris T informed the Board that a meeting with ECL was scheduled immediately after the Board meeting with Cora H, Silvia D, Anne V and Roshini G. They will report back to the ICISG Board.
- Cora will send the ECL strategic plan to Board members for reference.
8. Acknowledgments
- The Board acknowledged the invaluable help of Sparks (Jasper Smith), Lockheed Martin and Irene Miller by signing letters of appreciation.
9. Next conference call and in person meeting
- Chris indicated that the next conference call would be scheduled by email in the next month. She confirmed that the 2009 Board meeting would be hosted in Paris by the Institut national du Cancer. The time will be confirmed at a later date.
10. Adjournment
- The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.