Summary of the Iowa City Noon Rotary Meeting on December 3, 2015
Michael Schultz PhD, Chief Science Officer, Viewpoint Molecular Targeting LLC
President Thais introduced Mike Schultz who she has known for many years. Dr. Schultz is a founding member and Chief Science Office of Viewpoint Molecular Targeting LLC as well as an Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. His degrees in Russian and Oceanography reflect his strong intellectual curiosity. Dr. Schultz specializes in molecular targeting for diagnostic imaging and cancer therapy and is primary and co-inventor of Viewpoint IP.
President Thais introduced Mike Schultz who she has known for many years. Dr. Schultz is a founding member and Chief Science Office of Viewpoint Molecular Targeting LLC as well as an Assistant Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. His degrees in Russian and Oceanography reflect his strong intellectual curiosity. Dr. Schultz specializes in molecular targeting for diagnostic imaging and cancer therapy and is primary and co-inventor of Viewpoint IP.
Dr. Schultz’ current focus is on Metastatic Melanoma. Skin cancer is the fastest growing cancer incidence in the United States and is the #1 diagnosed cancer in young adults under the age of 30. This type of Melanoma is very lethal and the five-year survival rate is <20%. Viewpoint develops pharmaceutical drugs and image-guided radiation therapy to aid in localizing treatment areas in tumors with low side effects thus optimizing patient care. Viewpoint is teaming up with numerous world-class companies and academic centers across the country to bring this novel and innovative product line of theranostic agents to personalized patient care for Metastatic Melanoma. Their efforts are funded by grants and donations. Zev Sunleaf and David Conrad from the University of Iowa have been instrumental in developing new investment funds to further this research.
Thankfully, their treatment protocol is highly adaptable for other “tumor” cancers.
For additional information, please visit: http://viewpointmt.com/
MEETING
Singing: Bob Crane led singing of America the Beautiful and Smile with Jim Conard on the piano.
Rotary Moment: John Culshaw on engaged Rotarian Nancy Quellhorst. Nancy has been a Rotarian for 12 years and was President of our club from 2012-2013. She would give the following advice to a new Rotarian to optimize their future Rotary participation/experiences:
- Don’t sit at the same table every week. We have so many accomplished members and there are great people to meet.
- There are many ways to get involved so find the area for which you have passion.
- It is important to look to new members – be respectful of what they want to do..help find how they can contribute rather than simply assigning something. Get people engaged!
- Club should be committed to transparency. There is a lot of history and respect of how things were done in the past. Tradition can play a huge role but know how to balance tradition and change.
President Thais had the following announcement:
Our club raised a total of $52,000 through our raffle ticket sales effort for our Centennial Celebration. $19,000 will be directed to the Iowa City Public Library, $7,000 to the Coralville Public Library and $6,000 to the North Liberty Community Library. The remaining $20,000 will be used for our local club projects.
Jeff Nock had the following announcement:
Salvation Army sign up sheets will be available before and after the meeting. Once again, volunteers are needed for 1 hour shifts during the holiday season at local retailers.
John Gross had the following announcement:
Today begins the start of collections for Toys for Tots. John will be at the door before and after Rotary for the next several weeks asking for donations for this annual toy drive. “Please give until it feels good.”
Please remember that all members need to go into the ClubRunner system and update their own records in the membership directory as they have changes. We want to ensure that we have the most up-to-date information on all of our members. Please use this link: http://tinyurl.com/qxpm2we and follow information directly from ClubRunner on how to update your individual record.
For questions related to Club administration, please contact us at secretary@iowacitynoonrotary.org.
Guests and Visiting Rotarians
Brianna Wills introduced Visiting Rotarians Chet Woodman (Chagrin Valley District 6630) and Jim Scott (Park City Sunrise) as well as guests Evan Evans (Wally Chappell), Dale Roberts (Steve Wolken), Christa Payne (Brenda LaMarche), Ellie Alberhasky & Amy Boelk (Joe Hughes).
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Program: Tom Cilek; Attendance: Nancy Droll; Greeters: December 10 – Brenda LaMarche and Maggie Butler, December 17 – John Fraser and Mary Ellen Lewis, January 7 – Mark Nolte and Yasmine Rezai.