Dr. Aram Demirjian
immixGroup Foundation Surgical Oncology Fellow
Dr. Demirjian is the inaugural fellow in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins and just completed his first year of training in advanced surgical oncology where he gained significant experience in the treatment of patients with colorectal, pancreas, breast and other malignancies. He has been exposed to a diverse environment that fosters a multidisciplinary approach to caring for these patients while gaining the knowledge and practice in cancer care.
This coming year, Dr. Demirjian will continue his fellowship focusing on cancer research and the study of biomarks for colorectal cancer in collaboration with Dr Bert Vogelstein and Dr. Michael Choti. As a part of his study, Dr. Demirjian will examine serum collected from patients for markers that can be used for the early detection of recurrent colorectal cancer.
The blue star symbol signifies the united effort in the battle to prevent colorectal cancer deaths. The symbol is a star, representing the eternal memory of those people whose lives have already been lost to the disease and the shining hope for a future free of colon cancer. The star is merged with the more common ribbon for awareness and assumes a human shape.
Our Beneficiary
With your help, we have raised more than $539,000 since 2005 to benefit Johns Hopkins. These funds have been used for a variety of education and outreach initiatives, including: information and emotional support for newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients; promotion of screening for early diagnosis; salary support for a Health Educator; and a planned survivorship and patient education program. In addition, our efforts have helped to fund research involving molecular genetics of metastatic colorectal cancer as well as clinical outcomes studies of hepatic colorectal metastasis surgery.
Last year, immixGroup and Johns Hopkins created the immixGroup Foundation Surgical Oncology Fellowship in the Department of Surgery at Johns Hopkins. The fellowship funds an individual post-doctoral research fellow with the potential to become a leader in the field of academic surgical oncology. This two-year program will incorporate a year of clinical training followed by a year of cancer research (in accordance with the Society of Surgical Oncology’s training program). Proceeds from this year’s tournament will be directed to fund this fellowship.
The first funded immixGroup Foundation Fellow is Dr. Aram Demirjian. Dr. Demirjian is completing his first year of training in advanced surgical oncology. During this year, he has been gaining experience in the treatment of patients with colorectal, pancreas, breast, and other malignancies. He has been exposed to a diverse environment that fosters a multi-disciplinary approach in caring for these patients. In addition, Dr. Demirjian is gaining knowledge and practice in the human side of cancer care. Dr. Demerjian will continue with his second year of this fellowship focusing on an area of cancer research in collaboration with Dr. Bert Vogelstein and Dr. Michael Choti in the study of biomarkers for colorectal cancer.
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Spotlight on Colorectal Cancer
Colorectal cancer affects about 5% of the population, with up to 150,000 new cases per year in the United States alone. Cancer of the large intestine accounts for 21% of all cancers in the US, ranking second only to lung cancer in mortality in both males and females. It is, however, one of the most potentially curable of gastrointestinal cancers.
A personal or family history of colon and/or rectum cancer or polyps and inflammatory bowel disease have been associated with an increased risk for this type of cancer. Other risk factors include physical inactivity, high-fat and/or low-fiber diet, and an inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables.
Colorectal cancer is preventable if a polyp is removed before it turns into cancer. The best way to prevent colorectal cancer is to get screened by having a colonoscopy. Furthermore, colorectal cancer is treatable and beatable if it's caught in its early stages.
For more information about lung, prostate, colorectal, and breast cancer, including statistics, diagnosis and treatment, visit these websites: