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Through Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music to Cure Cancer, Jim Semonik has told his story of surviving colorectal cancer and raised more than $70,000 for cancer charities and research. On June 2, ASCRS presented him with the 2019 Local Hero Award at the 2019 ASCRS Annual Scientific Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.

“The ASCRS Local Hero Award recognizes people affected by colorectal disease whose advocacy or public outreach efforts have had a positive impact on their local communities,” said Dr. Sharon Stein, a colorectal surgeon and chair of the ASCRS Public Relations Committee. “Jim Semonik is a perfect example of this and we are very proud to present him with the award.”

After he was diagnosed with a deadly form of colorectal cancer in 2008, Semonik called on his network as a promoter and record store buyer to create the first compilation album in what is now a five-volume series. The subsequent volumes, titled Recurrence, Remission, Retaliation and Remembrance, reflect his experience living with cancer, being declared cancer-free and losing a friend to colorectal cancer. The proceeds from these albums have funded more than $70,000 in donations to various cancer-related charities and research teams including the Foundation for Cancer Research and Wellness, Gilda's Club Western Pennsylvania, The Bone Marrow Foundation, Cap for Kids and the colorectal surgery research department at the University of Pittsburgh.

“Thank you for recognizing me for my work with Electronic Saviors. Being able to bring the gift of music to so many across the world after being touched by cancer is an experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life. This project has touched the hearts of so many and has created memories not only for me but for all of the artists involved,” said Semonik.

Electronic Saviors has featured music from hundreds of artists from across the globe and is now accepting submissions for its sixth volume. Semonik now has his own label, Distortion Productions, which represents bands that have appeared on the albums. In addition to the five compilation albums, Electronic Saviors sells t-shirts, posters and a comic book with its own soundtrack through Distortion Productions. An inspiration to the industrial music community, Semonik was knighted on stage at the Coldwaves festival in Chicago in September 2018.

“Escaping the grasp of cancer has provided me with an opportunity not only to savor my remaining years but to have a soundtrack for it. It is truly an honor to receive this award and when I do reach the end, I can look back with a sense of fondness and great accomplishment. No regrets."

Watch Sir Jim Semonik’s Local Hero Video.

The Association of Program Directors for Colon and Rectal Surgery (APDCRS) has introduced a standardized letter of recommendation form for applicants to our fellowships.

If you are asked to write a Letter of Recommendation on behalf of an applicant, the applicant will submit this form to you via ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). You will also have the opportunity to write any additional commentary on this form, though it is not required.

APDCRS' primary goal is to have more meaningful information included in the Letter of Recommendation. Its secondary goal is to make the process of "writing" a Letter of Recommendation easier to accomplish in a timely manner.

For more information, e-mail APDCRS at [email protected] or call (734) 282-9400.

Mark K. Soliman
Colon and Rectal Clinic of Orlando
Orlando, Florida

Why I am a member of ASCRS:

I fell in love with the speciality of colon and rectal surgery because of the people. The mentors and role models I had in residency and fellowship demonstrated an elegant balance of patient empathy, technical skill, clinical knowledge and a passion to treat the most complex and difficult surgical pathology. The ASCRS embodies these very traits on an organizational level—one in which I am a proud member of.

Why did you specialize in colorectal surgery?

One of the most common questions I get is why did I choose to specialize in colon and rectal surgery. My answer typically is, "it’s complicated."

In truth, many things appealed to me about this speciality when I was deciding what to seek additional training in. The field of colon and rectal surgery requires a very skilled, delicate, thorough, and compassionate approach, especially in this often vulnerable and private area of the body.

This balance of humanity and precise surgery is one of the many facets that attracted me to the field. Additionally, the breadth of conditions I manage and operations I do as a specialist afford both intellectual stimulation and an opportunity to offer tertiary level care to those patients I am blessed to see.

Colon and rectal surgery is also at an extraordinarily exciting time, as we are witnessing a generational shift in the way we manage complex conditions such as rectal cancer, and the operative modalities that are available.

One of my passions has been offering my patients advanced minimally invasive robotic operations in addition to creating training curricula to train the next generation of colon and rectal surgeons in this same approach.

Only in the speciality of colon and rectal surgery did I find sufficient challenge, reward and opportunity—a decision I am proud I made and blessed to have been accepted into.

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The Colon Club Wins ASCRS 2019 Jagelman Award for Colorectal Cancer Advocacy

Electronic Saviors Creator Jim Semonik Wins 2019 Local Hero Award