MINNEAPOLIS / ST.PAUL (Feb. 2, 2007) — Masonic Cancer Center researcher DeAnn Lazovich, Ph.D., was recently named vice chair of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance Steering Committee and will assume her one-year position as chair in 2008. The committee is the governing body of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance and is responsible for the ongoing development, implementation, and evaluation of Cancer Plan Minnesota.

"I have been involved in cancer research since the early 1980s," says Lazovich. "My involvement with the Minnesota Cancer Alliance represents the first time that my experience, expertise and passion for public health come together to improve our citizens' health by reducing the burden of cancer. We have the knowledge and tools to achieve our goals by working together and I am excited to do my part."

Lazovich has played an integral role in the planning processes for Cancer Plan Minnesota and has served in many leadership roles for the Minnesota Cancer Alliance. She is currently chair of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance Advisory Council at the Masonic Cancer Center, where she is co-leader of the Prevention and Etiology Research Program.

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The Minnesota Cancer Alliance is a statewide coalition of health care organizations, cancer centers, community-based groups and volunteers dedicated to implementing the state’s first comprehensive cancer plan, Cancer Plan Minnesota 2005-2010. Developed through a collaboration of public, private, and non-profit organizations, the plan was published in 2005 and now serves as a common framework for action to reduce the burden of cancer among all people living in Minnesota. For more information, visit www.mncanceralliance.org.

The Masonic Cancer Center is part of the University's Academic Health Center. It is a Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by the National Cancer Institute. For more information about the Masonic Cancer Center, call the information line at 612-624-2620 or toll-free in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas at 1-888-CANCER MN (1-888-226-2376), or visit www.cancer.umn.edu.

Media contact for Minnesota Cancer Alliance: Nicole Bennett Engler, 507-266-9087, engler.nicole@mayo.edu

Media contact for Univesity of Minnesota Cancer Center: Mary Lawson, 612-624-6165, 612-363-6971 (cell), mlawson@umn.edu