Purdue community invited to participate in breast cancer prevention symposium
Researchers from around the world will gather at Purdue on Oct. 18 and 19 to launch a global initiative to better understand how nutrition affects breast cancer. Purdue faculty, staff and students are invited to attend and/or create poster presentations.
The event, the first International Symposium on Breast Cancer Prevention: Nutrition, Communication and Public Policy, will have four plenary topics. Submissions of abstracts for poster presentations, which are to relate to those topics, are due Sept. 8. More about the abstract submission process is at www.purdue.edu/breastcancer/abstract.html.
Graduate and postgraduate trainees are invited to submit their abstracts to compete for the Catherine Peachey Oral Presentation Award. Some poster presenters will be selected as panelists for round table discussions.
The multidisciplinary symposium, organized by the International Breast Cancer and Nutrition (IBCN) group at Purdue, will bring together global public health actors and advocates, and researchers on breast cancer prevention and nutrition. Sessions are designed to provide a platform for discussion among scientists, clinicians and other professionals in biology, epidemiology, medicine, nutrition, communication, education and public policy.
The symposium is co-chaired by Sophie Lelièvre, associate professor of basic medical sciences and leader of the Breast Cancer Discovery Group at the Purdue Center for Cancer Research; and Connie Weaver, Distinguished Professor and Head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition.
"We know that eating a healthy, balanced diet is crucial to one's health, especially for cancer prevention, but there are still many unknowns about the role nutritional mechanisms play in cancer development and recurrence," Lelièvre says. "There is a void in cancer prevention research in general, and that doesn't help empower patients. Our ultimate goal is to develop strategies that diminish breast cancer incidence, then utilize communication and public policy to educate people about our findings."
Each of the four plenary sessions will have four to six speakers. The plenary topics are breast cancer prevention and communication; breast cancer prevention and public policy; nutrition, populations and breast cancer; and nutrition research and breast cancer.
The keynote speakers, by session, are Kami Silk, Breast Cancer and Environment Research Center, Michigan State University; Cecilia Sepulveda, senior executive officer, Cancer Control Programmes, World Health Organization; Ricardo Uauy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London; and John Milner, director of the Nutrition and Cancer Prevention Program, National Cancer Institute.
“This initiative recognizes that different countries have unique perspectives which would benefit a sustained international effort to prevent breast cancer, and that the education of trainees in cross-disciplinary and international collaboration is an essential component in addressing global public health-related issues,” Lelièvre says.
For a complete program and details and to register, visit www.purdue.edu/breastcancer/. Registration deadline is Sept. 15.
Symposium sponsors:
Office of the Provost
Purdue Oncological Sciences Center
Purdue Center for Cancer Research
Bindley Bioscience Center
Discovery Lecture Series
College of Agriculture
College of Pharmacy
Purdue University Libraries and University Press
College of Liberal Arts
Krannert School of Management
School of Veterinary Medicine
Susan Bulkeley Butler Center for Leadership Excellence
Purdue Women Lead
Women’s Resource Office
Department of Basic Medical Sciences
Department of Foods and Nutrition
Statistical Bioinformatics Center
Purdue Research Foundation
Catherine Peachey Fund
National Cancer Institute and NIH Office of Research in Women's Health
