Faina Shtern, MD

Faina Shtern, MD

AdMeTech Foundation

Boston, Massachusetts

Faina Shtern, MD, is the President and CEO of AdMeTech Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to ending the prostate cancer crisis. As a Founder of AdMeTech, Dr. Shtern has led groundbreaking programs in prostate cancer research, education, awareness, and advocacy, with a focus on the advancement of precision diagnostics and their integration with precision treatment. This work has led to recognition of prostate cancer as a public health priority by the Massachusetts legislature and the United States Congress.

Dr. Shtern earned her medical degree at Chernovets Medical School in the Bukovina region of the former USSR, subsequently moving to New York City as a refugee. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Staten Island Hospital in New York. Dr. Shtern went on to become the first graduate from her program to be appointed as a Clinical Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Shtern has provided leadership for and participated in numerous scientific and advisory committees, academic workshops, and conferences in the United States and throughout the world, including the breast cancer study group of the National Academy of Medicine. She also has served as an expert witness in briefings and formal hearings held by the United States President’s Cancer Panel, United States Congress, senior officials of state and federal government, industry, consumer organizations, the media, and the general public. Dr. Shtern has been recognized as a leader in cancer research and education, having led the development of a national research policy in diagnostic imaging, and created novel models for large-scale international research programs that established partnerships of government agencies, academia, and industry and facilitated advancement and implementation of novel, transformational radiologic technologies and minimally invasive diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases, with a primary focus on breast cancer.

Talks by Faina Shtern, MD

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Welcome and Opening Remarks

| Aug 2024

Faina Shtern, MD, underscores the rapid progress in precision medicine. This approach, she notes, is revolutionizing prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment, leading to effective and personalized patient care.

In her remarks, Dr. Shtern reflects on the achievements and milestones reached in prostate cancer research and treatment. She acknowledges the contributions of the global medical community and the importance of interdisciplinary efforts in driving innovation and improving patient outcomes. She also highlights the ongoing challenges and areas where further research and development are needed to overcome obstacles in prostate cancer care.

She stresses the need for continued research and the integration of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and advanced imaging techniques, to further enhance diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic outcomes.

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NIH NCI Study on Focal Therapy

NIH NCI Study on Focal Therapy

| Sep 2023

Faina Shtern, MD, presents a review of image-guided focal therapy in diagnosing and treating localized prostate cancer. Dr. Shtern examines the benefits of minimally-invasive, image-guided focal therapy combined with radiogenomics using studies from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

Dr. Shtern discusses the importance of using radiogenomics, a combination of MRI and genetic cancer profiling, in diagnosing localized prostate cancer, as some prostate cancer lesions may not appear on an MRI alone. Using radiogenomics in patient diagnosis can help practitioners determine the appropriateness of image-guided focal therapy as a treatment, and provides a comprehensive picture for monitoring the patient post-treatment.

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Future Directions in Smart Prostate Cancer Screening – Highlights from the 6th Annual Global Summit on Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Future Directions in Smart Prostate Cancer Screening – Highlights from the 6th Annual Global Summit on Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer

| Aug 2023

Faina Shtern, MD, discusses future directions in smart prostate cancer screening and highlights from the Sixth Annual Global Summit on Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Prostate Cancer. Dr. Shtern explains prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer and guidelines for reducing risks associated with it. She mentions “smart” PSA screening, and she stresses the importance of novel quantitative approaches to risk management.

Dr. Shtern outlines advances in noninvasive diagnostic tools such as liquid biomarkers, testing for germline mutations in men with family history, and imaging. She displays a list of major international clinical trials studying integration of PSA, liquid biomarkers, and MRI and summarizes the ongoing PROBASE and BARCODE 1 trials, which may help define the role of genetic profiling in targeted screening.

Dr. Shtern outlines the IP1 PROSTAGRAM Study comparing MRI, PSA, and ultrasound. She reviews major international clinical trials studying integration of PSA, liquid biomarkers, and MRI (e.g., REIMAGINE Study).

She addresses micro ultrasound (microUS), explaining it provides improved visualization vs. standard US, has comparable diagnostic accuracy to MRI, and is supported by institutional series as an option to MRI-US fusion prostate biopsy. She cites the ongoing OPTIMUM trial seeking to confirm equivalence with MRI in a randomized prospective study and evaluate the benefit of adding MRI fusion to microUS prostate biopsy.

Finally, Dr. Shtern discusses a study on prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, examining combined MRI/PET before prostate cancer diagnosis, explaining it may improve differentiation of GG1 vs. GG2 disease but emphasizing the need for further research.

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