Jacksonville, Fla. – The Breast Health Center at Shands Jacksonville invites the public to a free forum on “What Everyone Should Know About Breast Cancer,” Thursday, Feb. 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Omni Hotel located in downtown Jacksonville. Dinner will be served.
Hear the latest life-saving information from a panel of recognized experts in the field of breast cancer. The question and answer session will include topics on knowing your risks, getting second opinions, having regular mammograms and giving self-examinations.
Shahla Masood, M.D., a University of Florida professor of pathology at Shands Jacksonville will be one of the moderators. Masood is on the cutting edge of developing new techniques for discovering breast cancer including ductal lavage. This FDA-approved technique is a minimally invasive method of searching for abnormal cells inside the milk ducts, where most breast cancer begins. Shands Jacksonville is the first and only hospital in north Florida to offer this state-of-the-art diagnostic tool.
The forum is designed to help the public make educated and informed decision about their breast health. “It’s more than just how to detect the disease, we hope our multidisciplinary team of medical professionals can give people the overall knowledge to understand the disease,” explains Masood.
Other members of the panelists include: Dianne Townsend, president of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, North Florida Affiliate; Eric Frykberg, M.D., a UF professor of surgery; Judy Garber, M.D., director of Cancer Risk & Prevention at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston; Julie Gralow, M.D., associate professor of medical oncology at the University of Washington in Seattle; Vivian Pinn, M.D., associate director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C.; and Eva Rubin, M.D., clinical director of Breast Imaging at the Montgomery Radiology Association in Montgomery, Ala.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation is helping sponsor the forum. The Komen Foundation is a global leader in the fight against breast cancer through its support of innovative research and community-based outreach programs. Two sisters, Susan Goodman Komen and Nancy Goodman Brinker, founded the organization 20 years ago in an effort to eradicate breast cancer as a life-threatening disease by funding research grants and supporting education, screening and treatment projects in communities around the world.