Solarz to launch cancer research program

Nina Solarz, widow of the late US Democratic Congressman Stephen Solarz, accompanied by her son Randy Glantz and granddaughter Leah Glantz are welcomed by former Senator Heherson Alvarez upon arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 1 from US via Taipei on board Eva Air yesterday.

Solarz said that she is in a mission to the Philippines to launch a program to select one, for the meantime a qualified doctor, for an international fellowship Program in the Thoracic and GI Oncology branch of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, USA.

The Solarz family has established the Stephen J. Solarz Memorial Fund that supports cancer research at the National Institute of Health after Congressman Solarz was treated by a team of doctors led by David Scrump, head of the Thoracic and GI Oncology of the Center for Cancer Research.

“We are looking for a Filipino doctor who will qualify for the fellowship program that will do a two-year high level research program designed to propel them into successful clinical research careers upon return in the home country as they will acquire the expertise to improve cancer care in the Philippines. As we go along, we will select more Filipino doctors for the fellowship,”Solarz said.

There are already two qualified researchers, Elvin Hekimoglu, a Turkish thoracic surgeon and Taiwanese doctor Shih-Hsin Hsiao and the 3rd will be a Filipino doctor.

Former Senator Heherson Alvarez, founding head of the Ninoy Aquino Movement (NAM), presented a medal of valor and a certificate to Stephen Solarz received by his wife Nina at the VIP section of the airport.