Filipina doctor receives award for cancer research
MANILA, Philippines - The Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer, an international multidisciplinary organization dedicated to research and education in supportive care in cancer patients, recently gave Filipina doctor Maxine Grace De la Cruz the acclaimed Young Investigator Award for her work on “Correlates of Spiritual Distress with Physical and Psychosocial Distress.” The award is given to individuals who have given substantial and noteworthy contributions to the field of cancer patient care.
Dr. de la Cruz was one of 11 recipients of the award that was presented in Rome. Under the tutelage of world-renowned experts in a field of medicine that is only now beginning to gain recognition, Maxine has become a promising figure.
Maxine Grace Jaucian-dela Cruz completed her medical degree at the University of the Philippines. During her residency training in Internal Medicine at the State University of New York in Brooklyn, she realized how little the medical system addressed the sufferings of the infirm and dying. “Medicine was lost in pursuit of curing physical illness,” Maxine states. Realizing that not enough attention is given to treating the mind and the emotion, she specialized in geriatric medicine at the State University of New York. She also earned a Certificate in Medical Education from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York, and further trained in palliative care for cancer patients at the renowned MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston,Texas, considered one of the best cancer hospitals in the world.
Armed with the passion and determination to help advance the practice of palliative care through clinical research and education, Maxine sees a bright future for this relatively young field of medicine.
