What’s New!


Big News!

The following is an announcement from the U. C. San Diego Department of Family Medicine:

On behalf of the Department of Family Medicine, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Daniel Vicario as the new Executive Director for the UCSD Centers for Integrative Health and Interim Chief for the Division of Integrative Health.

 Dr. Vicario is a renowned medical oncologist with a strong background in integrative medicine.  He completed his fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at UCSD from 1989 to 1992. He then stayed at UCSD Cancer Center as Faculty for two years until he moved to North San Diego County,  where he was co-Founder and Medical Director of the San Diego Cancer Center, now U.C. San Diego Cancer Center, North County, from 1994 to 2015. In 1998, Dr. Vicario co-founded the nonprofit San Diego Cancer Research Institute (SDCRI) where remains Medical Director.  He also provides integrative oncology consultations at Guarneri Integrative Health at Pacific Pearl in La Jolla.  For over three decades, Dr. Vicario has studied, experienced and practiced Integrative Medicine, Integrative Oncology, and several ancient healing traditions including Ayurveda and Indigenous Medicine. He’s been a speaker at multiple national and international medical, scientific and integrative medicine conferences. Dr. Vicario brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the division. He has a proven track record of advancing the field of integrative medicine through his research, clinical practice, and educational endeavors. Dr. Vicario will be working closely with department leadership, over the next few months to ensure a seamless transition, and we look forward to his leadership in shaping the future of our Division of Integrative Health.

 Please join us in welcoming Dr. Vicario to our team!


Resource Highlights

At SDCRI we honor Caregivers every day and every month!
We’ve added a whole new section to our Suggested Reading page just for Caregivers.
Check out those and all the other wonderful books here.

We’ve added a new webpage to the Resource page.
TakeCare.org – “When you think of health, what comes to mind? Too often we think of health as only something physical. But our health and well-being are more than that. Finding balance and connection between our Mind, Body, Spirit, and Community can help us truly be healthy – that is what TakeCare calls Whole Health.”
Check out the website here.

November was National Family Caregivers Month! We know how much effort caregivers put into helping their survivors and families. It’s a lot of work and it’s hard to find help with all there is to do. In honor of our Caregivers, we have added a new section of links to our Resource page.
Check out those links here.

Go to our Resource Page for more.


Dr. Brenner’s Musings

“#5 The Dream”

While we mourn the passing of our beloved Dr. Paul Brenner we can still enjoy the beautiful and inspiring words he shared with us over the years.

The 5th blog is about a strange and intricate dream that Dr. Brenner once had. He shared that dream and what he felt about it in this blog.

Read it here!

On his personal page is a summary of Dr. Brenner’s professional career.


Expressive Arts Therapy with Alessandra Colfi, Ph.D.

Alessandra is now offering a new Gentle Yoga class!
This class is open to all female cancer survivors; there is no fee to participate but interested participants are asked to complete 2 simple forms before joining in.

 

Need CEs? Consider Healing Through Art: Discover the power of art to heal and transform in this 6-week, online professional development program which Alessandra teaches through CSUSM starting February 26. Earn 24 CE hours.

 

-CSU Shiley Haynes Institute of Palliative Care created and posted a short video teaser to announce next year’s Symposium on June 2-4, 2025. I was so pleasantly surprised Expressive Arts is featured so prominently!

 
There is plenty of evidence that exercise is the most effective lifestyle practice which improves quality of life and outcome in recovering from cancer and lowering risk of recurrence.  However, many patients hold back for fear of getting hurt and don’t enjoy exercising… In order to support and encourage patients to exercise safely and join low-impact Zumba classes, Alessandra researched and wrote a new article:
The Hidden Risks of Holding Back During Exercise
“For a short time, I taught a Zumba class on Zoom, recording in a small studio where I had to keep my movements tight and stay within a limited space to remain visible on camera. After just a couple
of weeks, I began experiencing aches all over, especially in my hips and knees. That discomfort ultimately led me to stop teaching the class after a couple of months…” Read on here.

Take a look at Alessandra’s page for projects scheduled for August along with registration information. Have a look here!


Mary’s Reality-Based Nutrition

Each one of us is a unique individual on our own unique path. One size does not fit all when it comes to personal healthcare. Therefore, it is important for us to be our own advocates when it comes to our health. The first step is educating yourself about your disease and the role nutrition plays in treating it. Take a look at my page for resources to help you improve your diet. Mary’s Reality-Based Nutrition

Follow me on my Facebook page for recipes: Check it out here! And you can follow me on Pinterest!


Genomic Oncology

Dr. Mark Adler, Institute Director, heads the Genomic Oncology Diagnostics and Second Opinion Initiative, a new generation platform for developing treatments tailored to the individual patient. It involves the application of sensitive genomic tests to the determination of a tumor’s drug sensitivity and resistance. In addition, a person’s hereditary traits and a tumor’s genetic signature will be used to determine how best to eliminate a given cancer with a specific therapy or agent.
We have added 5 new articles authored by Dr. Adler to this page.
Read more here!

Back to the top.


Videos and Talks

Gregg Braden Invitational – CHI The Energy that Heals –  This is a recent Zoom conversation regarding CHI Initiative’s upcoming documentary “The Energy that Heals”, and CHI’s “amazing ability to bring together diverse practitioners, thinkers, and actors with the goal of empowering individuals, societies, and humanity to build healthier societies and sustainable stewardship of our planet.”
Dr. Vicarios’s interaction starts at around minute 38. The documentary “The Energy that Heals” is under production. This is the link to CHI’s website with a recent Webinar that explains this exciting documentary project: https://www.chi.is/energy-that-heals/


Back to the top.

Share this Page