Scientific Lectures
The Prospect Of Preventing Cancer: Scientific Basis And Fond Hope
Tulane University School of Medicine Auditorium, 1430 Tulane Avenue
8 a.m. – Noon
Open Public Forum – Fight for your Life: Cancer Prevention in the Real World
Freeman Auditorium of the Woldenberg Art Center, 1229 Broadway,
5 – 6:15 p.m.
The Tulane University Presidential Symposium on Cancer will explore the scientific basis of cancer prevention from several different perspectives. Four national experts in the fields of nutritional prevention, cancer immunotherapy, hormonal prevention and chemoprevention will make scientific presentations to the faculty and guests in the morning session, and field questions from the community in a open public forum that evening.
According to the American Cancer Society, almost 200,000 of the 564,000 cancer deaths expected in 2004 could be prevented by lifestyle changes. Nutrition, physical inactivity, obesity, and other lifestyle factors within our control are risk factors for cancer. Some cancers are caused by infectious exposures and can be prevented through improved hygiene and common sense behavior. The good news is that many cancers are preventable. The better news is that legions of cancer researchers are doing their part to advance cancer prevention by seeking to understand the cellular processes that initiate and promote cancer in the first place. It is in the deeper understanding of these molecular processes that fond hope for the prevention and eventual cure for cancer is born.
Speakers
Ernest Terry Hawk is a medical oncologist and epidemiologist in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, where he is chief of the Gastrointestinal and Other Cancers Research Group. He has co-authored nearly 100 journal articles and book chapters on cancer prevention and is senior editor for Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. He has served on the American Association of Cancer Research Task Force on the Treatment of Intraepithelial Neoplasia and frequently addresses National Cancer Institute inquiries on cancer prevention posed by the public, advocacy groups, Congress and the national media.
Geoffrey L. Greene is a professor at the Ben May Institute and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago. Just this year, he was appointed chair of the Curriculum Committee on Cancer Biology there. Greene has authored over 160 manuscripts which have been published in peer-reviewed publications and sits on the editorial boards of five medical journals . The overall goal of his research is to determine the molecular mechanisms by which female steroid hormones regulate development, differentiation and/or cellular proliferation and survival in hormone responsive tissues and cancers.
W. Martin Kast is the Walter A. Richter Cancer Research Chair and professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California. His research topics include cancer immunology/immunotherapy and virology, focused on developing new and effective therapies for cervical cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma. Kast is the immunological coordinator for a variety of clinical trials. He is an associate editor of Cancer Research.
Alan R. Kristal is a member and associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. He also is a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and the Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington. His primary research interests are in nutritional epidemiology, including the etiologic relationships between diet and cancer and implementation and evaluation of public health nutrition interventions. He is a senior editor of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention and associate editor of the American Journal of Epidemiology.