Gail E Darling MD FRCSC FACS Professor Thoracic Surgery Kress Family Chair in Esophageal Cancer University of Toronto Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network Toronto, Ontario Canada Contact: gail.darling@uhn.on.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gail Darling likes a challenge. It’s the reason she became a thoracic surgeon.

 

“I like the comprehensive nature of an approach to cancer,” Darling says. “Not just the surgical side, I like the fact that you need to know about all different areas to treat the patient.”

 

The Professor of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Toronto believes in a holistic approach to medicine, being involved in diagnostics, staging, surgery and coordinated care. She wants to follow her patients from beginning to end.

 

It’s part of the reason she values membership in the IASLC. It’s a place she can build relationships with colleagues around the globe from different disciplines. She credits her mentors, Dr. Frances Shepherd and Dr. Michael Johnston for encouraging her to join the world-wide organization.

 

An active member of the IASLC since 2001, Dr. Darling will take her involvement to a new level by serving as the Chair of the Council of Regents.

 

“Dr. Gail Darling has proved to be a highly effective member of the Council of Regents and was an obvious candidate to be the first Chair of the Council,” says Dr. Peter Goldstraw, President of the IASLC Board of Directors. “She is a collaborative person by nature and will interact in a positive and constructive way with her colleagues on the Council.”

 

The Council of Regents was formed in 2011 to strengthen the relationship between the IASLC and other specialty societies within other geographical regions. There are 24 regents and each is responsible is responsible for a country, group of countries, or specialty within a geographical region. The Board of Directors sought nominations from appropriate specialist organizations within the country or countries covered by the Regent. All Regents are experienced members of the IASLC recognized as having influence and respect within the thoracic oncology community. 

 

“We’ve already benefited by improved relations with these societies and have had several highly successful joint educational initiatives,” Dr. Goldstraw says. “The Regents are helping the board understand the barriers to increased membership in countries where the growing epidemic of lung cancer demands action from the IASLC.”

 

Dr. Darling emphasizes the importance of collaboration in this area.

 

“It is difficult for individual groups in any given region to make strides in reducing the burden of lung cancer. I think cooperation among groups, is key,” Dr. Darling says. “We have the power of numbers. The IASLC is great at bringing people together to exchange ideas, develop a plan of action and implement it.”

 

Dr. Darling will be leading the Regents in this area, looking for the talent across the globe who can benefit from the scientific and educational activities of the IASLC.

 

“There is an enormous reservoir of talent out there which we need to recognize and include within our scientific and educational faculty,” Goldstraw says. “Dr. Darling brings energy and enthusiasm and an abundance of new ideas. We wish her well in this new task.”

 

Expect to see news from and about the Regents in upcoming Newsletters. If you’d like more information on the Regents, please visit:  www.iaslc.org/about-iaslc/council-of-regents-2/.