Nathalie D. McKenzie, MD, Receives 2020 Distinguished Advocacy Award at the IGCS Annual Global Meeting on Gynecologic Cancers
AdventHealth Foundation Board Member Nathalie D. McKenzie, MD, will receive the 2020 Distinguished Advocacy Award at the International Gynecologic Cancer Society (IGCS) Annual Global Meeting on Gynecologic Cancers in September. This award recognizes advocates and/or advocacy organizations that provide active, dedicated service to patients/survivors, families, and caregivers, and is reserved for those most persistently engaged in the fight against gynecologic and other cancers.
Dr. McKenzie revived the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship at AdventHealth and led the program
to achieve its independent accredited status with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) — a status shared by only MD Anderson Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Subsequently, having been selected among just a few oncologists throughout the world to be part of the Class of 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Leadership Development Program, she is now being recognized for her volunteer work with Innovating Health International (IHI) and for co-founding HEAL, the AdventHealth eight-week intensive cancer survivorship/rehabilitation program.
The Distinguished Advocacy Award is scheduled to be presented to Dr. McKenzie on September 10, 2020, by the IGCS President. Secondary to COVID, the meeting will not be held in Rome, Italy, as previously scheduled, and will instead be a virtual meeting.
IHI is a non-profit organization based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, founded by Vince DeGennaro, MD, from Miami, Florida. The dual mission of the IHI is to both train and empower local frontline physicians while simultaneously providing desperately needed oncologic care for patients with cervical and breast cancers — the two leading causes of death on the small island nation. Survival rates are exceedingly poor secondary to lack of infrastructure and access to care issues with geopolitical underpinnings. The following article (Corners of the World) details volunteer efforts of the AHI: McKenzie ND, Ahmad S, Bernard J Jr, DeGennaro V Jr. Empowering and Training Frontline Providers Treating Cervical Cancer in Haiti: Perspective of a Gynecologic Oncologist’s Experience with International Surgical Missions. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer 2020; 30: 274-275.
A documentary about the work of the IHI and its volunteers is in production.