Monday, April 23, 2012

ASCO 2012 (HAWMC 23 My choice)

Health Activist Choice Day 2! Write about whatever you like.


I am one happy cancer research advocate. I learned last week that I will be receiving a scholarship from the Conquer Cancer Foundation to attend this year's ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncologists ) Annual meeting in Chicago. Their goal is to improve cancer care and prevention. The Annual Meeting is the largest conference on cancer research in the US with over 25,000 cancer researchers attending the meeting.

Last year I attended the meeting as a Research Advocacy Network Focus on Research Scholar . I met so many dedicated advocates and enjoyed interacted with researchers from all over the world. I learned the results of a large ovarian cancer screening study, the latest Avastin trials results as well as the difficulties researchers face in recruiting patients into clinical trials.  I was thrilled to be able to talk directly to researchers who were presenting their posters and appreciated the time they took to explain the experimental design to me.

My attendance this year will continue to focus on Ovarian Cancer, Survivorship and Clinical Trial Design presentations and poster sessions. In addition to updating my blog from the meeting when I return I will develop a handout and PowerPoint presentation "Cancer Research for Survivors" with pointers on clinical trials, study design and how to read medical journal articles and posters.
 Thank you Conquer Cancer Foundation for giving me the opportunity to improve my skills as a cancer research advocate.

Dee
Every day is a Blessing!

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