SIU Med School's Annual Cancer Symposium Offers Updates by Experts

The fifth annual cancer symposium, sponsored by the SIU Cancer Institute, will feature national and local experts providing updates to the medical attendees. It will be presented in February by Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and jointly sponsored with St. John’s Hospital. The program, Cancer Updates: Advances in Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment, will be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, February 4, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway, Springfield.

Five national experts with join four SIU faculty members in presenting the daylong program. The course is directed by Dr. K. Thomas Robbins, professor and chair of otolaryngology head and neck surgery and interim director of the SIU Cancer Institute. The guest faculty speakers (and their topics and speaking times) are -

• Kerry S. Courneya, Ph.D., professor and Canada research chair in physical activity and cancer at the University of Alberta, exercise interventions in cancer survivors (3:40 p.m.);
• Dr. Charles J. Dunton, director of gynecologic oncology at Albert Einstein Medical Center and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Jefferson Medical College, cervical cancer screening (11:15 a.m.);
• Dr. William S. Ferguson, professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University School of Medicine and director of pediatric hematology/oncology and stem cell transplantation at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, bone tumors in adolescents and young adults (2:30 p.m.);
• Dr. Paul M. Harari, Jack Fowler professor of oncology at University of Wisconsin Medical School, advances in head and neck cancer therapy (9:10 a.m.); and
• Betsy Wilson, director of Let’s Face It USA, living with change when cancer alters a patient’s appearance (12:15 p.m.).

The course meets the requirements for 7.5 hours of credit in Category 1 of the AMA Physicians Recognition Award through SIU. Additional information and registration details are available online at www.siumed.edu/cme. Or contact SIU's Continuing Medical Education Office in Springfield, 217-545-7711 weekdays.

The SIU Cancer Institute is focusing the medical school's efforts in cancer research, physician and public education, and treatment for patients from across central and southern Illinois. More than 50 SIU physician and basic science faculty are involved with the Institute.

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