ROME, September 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

SSIF Announces the Establishment of a Prestigious Award to Recognize and Reward Excellence in Medical Education

Serono Symposia International Foundation (SSIF) has announced today a public competition for an award to recognise an expert in the field of oncology who has made a significant contribution to medical education activities through research and dedication. This prestigious award has been announced today during the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) congress held in Vienna, Austria.

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The criteria for the candidates' application cover a wide range of skills and attributes that SSIF is looking for in a potential winner of the award. The Award Committee composed by SSIF Scientific Committee and Board of Directors Members, will assess the professional dedication and leadership of the candidates in the field of continuing medical education.

"The challenge of medical education, today, is to manage to follow the outstanding advances in the field of oncology - said Professor Christoph Zielinski, Member of the Scientific Committee of SSIF - and I am particularly glad to welcome this prestigious initiative by SSIF that highlights the crucial value of medical education for the entire healthcare professional's field."

The eligible applicants are physicians and scientists from 45 to 60 years old working in the field of translational research: antibody - based therapy, signal transduction inhibition, immunotherapy and angiogenesis inhibition. The ideal candidate will have five or more years of medical educational services at educational live events as scientific organizer, speaker or tutor and/or an academic course teaching experience as lecturer or professor. Besides this, the ideal candidate will be author up to 10 best papers published in the last 10 years, authorship of books or book chapters or best book papers in the last 10 years and/or authorship of online courses in the last 5 years.

Applications are open for submission from September 28^th 2012 to March 30^th 2013. The winner will be announced in 2013, besides receiving a 10.000 euro value award, and will become a Member of the SSIF Advisory Committee.

Candidates must register and submit their application and documentation on the dedicated web site http://www.ssifaward.org, no later than March 30^th 2013.

"Our future health depends on today's medical experts' minds and medical education has never been more important than today - said Michèle Piraux, Secretary to  the Board of Directors of SSIF -  and the SSIF award highlights the importance of medical education and recognizes those who are contributing to broaden tomorrow's scientific horizons. This award aims to provide a greater opportunity to share thoughts and opinions in a stimulating environment within the oncology community."

Serono Symposia International Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Geneva (Switzerland). It was founded to disseminate the most innovative achievements and potential developments of medical and scientific research through Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs to improve the patient's life.

Scientific Secretariat and media contact:
Serono Symposia International Foundation (SSIF)
Salita di San Nicola da Tolentino, 1/b    
00187 Rome, ITALY
E-mail: info@ssifaward.org
+39-06-420-413-511

SOURCE Serono Symposia International Foundation (SSIF)