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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, John Mendelsohn, M.D., is stepping down as president |
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of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center on September |
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1, 2011, concluding 15 years of dedicated service in which he has |
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made significant contributions to cancer research, treatment, |
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education, and prevention; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Mendelsohn has accomplished much during his |
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tenure, perhaps most notably growing the institution's budget and |
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capacity to double their previous size; he has also implemented new |
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priorities for integrated programs in patient care, research, |
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education, and cancer prevention, and under his direction, M. D. |
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Anderson has been named the top cancer hospital in the nation seven |
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times in the U.S. News & World Report "America's Best Hospitals" |
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survey; and |
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WHEREAS, A cum laude graduate of Harvard Medical School, |
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Dr. Mendelsohn served his residency in internal medicine at Brigham |
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and Women's Hospital in Boston and completed fellowships at the |
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National Institutes of Health and the Washington University School |
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of Medicine; in 1970, he joined the faculty of the University of |
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California San Diego, where he became the founding director of a |
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National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center; he went on to |
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chair the department of medicine at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering |
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Cancer Center from 1985 to 1996 and to hold the hospital's Winthrop |
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Rockefeller Chair in Medical Oncology; and |
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WHEREAS, Dr. Mendelsohn's research while serving as |
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professor and vice chair of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical |
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College pioneered the concept of targeted anti-receptor therapy as |
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a new form of cancer treatment; that groundbreaking work earned him |
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the Dan David Prize in Cancer Therapy, and antibody 225 was approved |
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by the FDA for colon cancer in 2004 and for head and neck cancer in |
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2006; in addition, he has authored more than 250 scientific papers |
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and articles and was the founding editor of Clinical Cancer |
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Research for 10 years; and |
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WHEREAS, The recipient of numerous other prestigious honors, |
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Dr. Mendelsohn is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the |
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National Academy of Sciences, and in 2010, he was elected as the |
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first chair of the Worldwide Innovative Networking Consortium in |
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Personalized Cancer Medicine; his passion remains developing and |
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testing new cancer therapies, and he will continue his affiliation |
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with M. D. Anderson as codirector of the new Sheikh Khalifa Bin |
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Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy; and |
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WHEREAS, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center |
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is today among the most sophisticated and advanced cancer centers |
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in the world, thanks in part to the far-reaching vision of Dr. John |
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Mendelsohn, and the full impact of his exceptional leadership will |
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continue to resonate for years to come; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
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Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby honor Dr. John Mendelsohn |
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for his outstanding direction of The University of Texas M. D. |
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Anderson Cancer Center and commend him for his lifelong commitment |
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to medical science; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Dr. Mendelsohn as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives. |
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Craddick |
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______________________________ |
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Speaker of the House |
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I certify that H.R. No. 127 was adopted by the House on June |
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28, 2011, by a non-record vote. |
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______________________________ |
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Chief Clerk of the House |
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