Jacksonville, Fla. – Shahla Masood, M.D., professor and associate chair of the University of Florida Department of Pathology and director of The Breast Health Center at Shands Jacksonville, will once again direct the yearly Multidisciplinary Symposium on Breast Disease, which draws hundreds of physicians from around the world to hear nationally and internationally known experts from a variety of disciplines in breast cancer. The seventh annual meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14-17, 2002, at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.
“This scientific program is designed to provide breast health education to physicians and to those who are involved in the study and management of breast cancer,” said Masood. “The symposium has remained focused in highlighting the most current discoveries and the latest controversial issues in breast care.”
Masood is scheduled to speak at the symposium Feb. 15 regarding the challenges and promises of ductal lavage, a new FDA-approved technique that searches for abnormal cells inside the milk ducts where most breast cancer begins. If abnormal cells are found, it provides a biological indicator of significantly increased breast cancer risk. Shands Jacksonville is the first hospital in north Florida to offer this procedure.
The public will also have an opportunity to become aware of the latest information on breast cancer at a public forum, “What Everyone Should Know About Breast Health,” held at the Omni Hotel in downtown Jacksonville Feb. 14, 2002, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The forum will include a multidisciplinary panel of six experts from the University of Florida, University of Southern California and Magee-Women’s Hospital who will answer questions from the audience. Local UF faculty members include Masood, Arnold Friedman, M.D., a professor and chair of the UF Department of Radiology, and Randal Henderson, M.D., a professor and associate chair of the UF Department of Radiation Oncology. Vivian Pinn, M.D., associate director for research on women’s health with the National Institutes of Health, is also among panel members.
Admission to the public forum is free. Dinner will be served. Call (904) 244-3430 to RSVP.