The Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich (RMA) will host Dr. Vincent DeVita and Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn on “Discussion of the Book, The Death of Cancer,” on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 11 a.m.
Cancer (malignant neoplasms) stubbornly remains the second most common cause of death in the U.S. DeVita has been at the forefront of cancer treatment and research since the 1960s, developing chemotherapy combinations that have increased the cure rate of Hodgkin’s Disease from several percent to over 70% and have markedly improved large cell lymphoma survival as well.
He was appointed in 1980 to be the Director of the National Cancer Institute of the NIH by President Jimmy Carter, remaining in that position for the next eight years, and has been the medical director of the Yale Cancer Center from 1993-2003. He remains professionally active as a professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine and chair of the Yale Cancer Center advisory board. With his daughter, he is the co-author of The Death of Cancer.
Elizabeth DeVita-Raeburn is a science writer who has additionally written The Empty Room: Surviving Sibling Loss, a moving account of her older brother who developed aplastic anemia – a rare immune deficiency – when he was nine years old, and lived in a sterile hospital “bubble room” for the next six years, until his death. The DeVitas will discuss “why the war on cancer is winnable and how we get there,” the subtitle of their collaborative book.
The Greenwich RMA offers a free program every Wednesday at 11 a.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, 1 W. Putnam Ave., that is open to the public; no reservations are required. For more information, visit greenwichrma.org or contact info@greenwichrma.org
