2006 NETWORKING® MAGAZINE’S DAVID AWARD HONOREE.

FRANCIS ARENA M.D., F.A.C.P.

President, Arena Oncology Associates, P.C.

Less than ten years after receiving his medical
degree from Cornell University Medical
College, Dr. Francis Arena opened Arena
Oncology, a unique medical office in Great Neck with
hospital-caliber care in a comfortable and warm setting.
His office manages every aspect of patient care
from up-to-date diagnostic and treatment modalities
to the availability of a social worker, and carries out
research on the premises. In addition to having the
latest advances in equipment and technology, Arena
Associates partners with pharmaceutical companies
to offer patients the newest drugs and the most current
treatment regimens.

Arena aspires to the phrase: The healing begins in
the waiting room. He’s also keenly aware that “cancer
is not an isolated illness,” that family members
are most likely coping with some aspect of the disease,
from lack of understanding to loss of a loved
one’s abilities. And, for their dedication and compassion,
he calls his nurses, physician’s assistants and
physician associates “very special people.”

Arena notes, however, “There’s a war going on in
the medical field between continuing patient care and
medical research.” And he has chosen to confront,
what he’s determined, the two biggest challenges in
medicine: that doctors must never forget the patient,
even with today’s government constraints and high
health costs, and that vital research must be funded
and carried out.

During his internship and residency at New York

Hospital-Memorial Hospital, Arena participated in
the rotation through the hospitals of Cornell – The
New York Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery
and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center –
learning the importance of understanding patients.
After receiving his medical degree, he managed
Memorial Sloan Kettering’s education component,
overseeing student rotations. Today, Arena still
“ makes rounds” accompanying medical students to
patients’ bedsides, as part of his duties as clinical
assistant professor at New York University Hospital
and Cornell University Medical College. He considers
it his responsibility to share his 30 years’ experience
and remind students that “their patients
always come first.”

Arena says that his “roots” in the medical field go
back to his youth. He had rheumatic fever as a child
and remembers making visits to his uncle, the doctor,
who was considered the “general practitioner”
for his Brooklyn neighborhood. But there’s another
image that looms large in his memory: a little girl he
used to see when they sat on the stoops of their
brownstones. One day, his mom asked for his help,
going door-to-door requesting contributions for the
family who had just lost their daughter to leukemia.

“I was shocked by it,” says Arena, who 30 years
later would write a paper on the curability of childhood
leukemia. “Today, we can cure 50-60% of the
cases.”

“Research and education is how we can make

headway into diseases,” he adds, “so they are not the
killers that they used to be.” During his internship,
Arena participated in a six-month rotation in
research, meeting and working with Dr. Robert Good
and Dr. Sudhir Gupta while conducting research on
immunology and the relationship to cancer. At
Memorial Sloan Kettering, he also participated in
research and later served as Hematology/Oncology
Fellow.

In 1986, Arena and philanthropists Martin and
Barbara Sass created a foundation that focuses on
research, education and patient care in the fight
against cancer and blood related diseases. The foundation
became known as the Hematologic Research
Foundation, but was later changed to The Sass
Foundation for Medical Research, following the
Sasses’ outstanding contributions that allowed the
foundation’s work to broaden. Dr. Gupta also serves
as director of scientific development.

One of the major functions of the foundation is
providing lectures for physicians, so that “they can
understand the issues, not just read about them in a
journal or professional magazine,” says Arena. The
foundation has hosted a “Who’s Who in the medical
field”— top scientists and physicians across the country
– to keep local practitioners attuned to the latest
news. Arena recalls one of the foundation’s first
speakers, Larry Piro of the Scripps Clinic in
California, who had discovered a rheumatoid arthritis
drug for the treatment of “hairy cell leukemia.”
“ When he spoke,” Arena adds, “physicians gathered
around the podium, and within six months, we were
treating people on Long Island with the drug, and
saving lives.”

The foundation offers community oncology programs
with motivational speakers, such as film and
TV actor Richard Roundtree who has suffered from
male breast cancer, and Marshall Wallace, the voice of
Mrs. Crabapple on The Simpsons, who brings humor
to the treatment of disease. For a decade, the foundation
has been holding a free breast cancer awareness
day for patients and their families – this year attracting
more than 600 attendees. With his interest in education
and support, Arena says he’d like to see another
“ zero” behind that number.

The foundation recently held its sixth international
meeting on cancer in Majorca, Spain, where physicians
and scientists from every continent shared
expertise and discussed targeted therapies. It also
acknowledges people from all walks of life who are
making a difference in health care, including New
York State Senator Michael Balboni, for securing
grants for research, and U.S. Senator Charles
Schumer, for shaping bills in the health field and providing
funds for research.

A lecturer, published writer of numerous articles,
assistant editor of the journal Oncology, and editorial
board member of the journal Community Oncology,
Arena serves on the advisory board of One in Nine,
and commends the foundation for their outstanding
work in assisting people facing cancer and in promoting
awareness among the public and elected officials.
He also assists Lean on Me in their work to help
patients cope with disease. To foster a closer working
relationship among researchers, clinics, medical facilities
and pharmaceutical companies, Arena serves on
advisory boards of several pharmaceuticals.

Twenty-three year residents of Manhasset, Arena
and his wife Kathleen, an emergency room nurse at
North Shore Hospital, have six children, Joe, Frank,
Christian, Brittany, Jillian and William, ranging in age
from 26 to 7 years old.

NETWORKING® January 2006