[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Women’s Breast Health Initiative made its way to Texas earlier this month, where team members of the non-profit organization attended the 2014 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The national conference is presented by the Cancer Therapy and Research Center at UT Health Science Center San Antonio, the American Association for Cancer Research, and Baylor College of Medicine. The driving force behind the collaboration is the shared mission of the organizations to advance progress in the prevention and detection of breast cancer among women.
Earlier this summer, the Women’s Breast Health Initiative and its research team submitted an abstract poster for the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium and was one of the few advocacy organizations selected for a presentation. Several of The Women’s Breast Health Initiative’s research team members; Carmen Calfa, M.D., Julie Wilkinson, M.S., Andrea Ivory, Executive Director of WBHI and Stephanie Hoogenbergen conducted the poster presentation in San Antonio on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. The Women’s Breast Health Initiative presented evidence from its 2011 and 2012 findings, which validated the success of its unique door-to-door breast cancer intervention outreach programs.
During the conference, WBHI was able to connect with professionals from the pharmaceutical and genetic testing companies and leaders in the breast cancer industry. The partnerships formed at the conference will play an impactful role in the development of treatment and prevention research. There were some Nationally recognized physicians present, Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens, Medical Oncologist and Chief of the Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Alejandra Perez, Director of the Breast Cancer Centers at Memorial Cancer Institute, Dr. Eli Avisar, an associate professor of surgery in the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Dr. Grace Wang, M.D, of Miami, who specializes in Hematology/Oncology, and is affiliated with Baptist Hospital of Miami, South Miami Hospital and Homestead Hospital.
The Women’s Breast Health Initiative would like to thank everyone who attended the presentation and looks forward to continuing to grow these relationships and spreading knowledge about the importance of breast cancer education and prevention.
