Widemann to Give 2021 Astute Clinician Lecture
Dr. Brigitte Widemann will give the Astute Clinician Lecture as part of the NIH Director’s Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series on Dec. 8 from 3 to 4 p.m. via NIH VideoCast. She will present “Advancing Therapies for Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1): Lessons Learned from Every Patient.”
Widemann is a pediatric oncologist with expertise in drug development and early clinical trials for children with refractory solid tumors and genetic tumor predisposition syndromes, in particular neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Her pioneering research on NF1 resulted in the first Food and Drug Administration-approved medical therapy, the MEK inhibitor selumetinib, for children with NF1 and inoperable, symptomatic plexiform neurofibromas in 2020. She is currently applying lessons learned from NF1 to children and adults with very rare solid tumors.
Widemann earned her medical degree at the University of Cologne in Germany, where she also completed her pediatric residency. She then moved to NIH for a pediatric hematology and oncology fellowship in NCI’s Pediatric Oncology Branch. Her early clinical research was focused on antimetabolites. She had a leadership role in the clinical development of glucarpidase, a rescue agent for patients who experience renal failure after administration of high-dose methotrexate. Widemann became a tenure-track investigator in 2000 and earned tenure in 2009.
The Astute Clinician Lecture was established in 1998 through a gift from the late Dr. Robert W. Miller and his wife, Haruko. It honors U.S. scientists who have observed unusual clinical occurrences and, by investigating them, have opened an important new avenue of research. Learn more at http://www.cc.nih.gov/researchers/lectures/astuteclin.html.
To watch, tune in to https://videocast.nih.gov/watch=43814. Continuing Medical Education credits will be available.
Sign language interpreting services are available upon request. Individuals who need interpreting services or other reasonable accommodation to participate in this event should email WALSoffice@od.nih.gov or call 301-594-6747.