Friday, April 29, 2016

May 21, 2016 - Free Nutrition Education Family Event Sponsored by the MACOD-R Partnership


 

The Multidisciplinary Academic-Community Obesity Disparities Research (MACOD-R) Partnership

presents the

Obesity Disparities Research & Intervention Seminar Series

 

Nutrition Education Family Event

 

Healthy Eating Tips for Children and Families

Eunshil  McKenna, RD, LD/N, Food and Nutrition Services at Alachua County Public Schools

 

Healthy Cooking Demonstration and Fun Activities for Children

University of Florida IFAS Family Nutrition Program

 

Healthy Lunch  ◊  Drawings for Prizes  ◊  Convenient Parking

 

Saturday, May 21, 2016

11:00 A.M. ‒ 1:00 P.M.

 

Straughn IFAS Extension Professional Development Center

2142 Shealy Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611

 

Register to attend for free no later than Monday, May 16, 2016

Register by phone (1-866-290-5770) or online (http://tx.ag/seminarseries2016)

Monday, April 25, 2016

CDC Webinar Announcement: “Research Project Update: AFIX Program Strategies for Improving HPV Vaccination Rates in the Field” - Thursday, May 19, 1PM ET


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Adolescent Immunization Communications Team is proud to present the “Research Project Update: AFIX Program Strategies for Improving HPV Vaccination Rates in the Field” webinar. Join us on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 1:00PM ET. Assistant Professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School & Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Dr. Melissa Gilkey will discuss the tools and strategies that were used by the participating AFIX programs for improving HPV vaccination rates in the field. During this webinar, Dr. Gilkey will be joined by Chrystal Averette of the Washington Department of Health who will share how, as part of this project, Washington State is implementing specific strategies around reminder/recall and AFIX in order to increase HPV vaccination rates.

 

Cancer Connections on Wednesday April 27th


On the 27th, Dr. Duane Mitchell of the U.F. Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy will give a presentation on his team's research in the lab and in clinical trials.

Dr. Mitchell and his team were recently awarded a $1 million dollar grant by the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation,  to conduct a four-year project to find an effective immunotherapy treatment for pediatric brain tumors, using the patient's own immune system.

 

Dr. Mitchell's presentation will begin at 12:10, so please arrive at HealthStreet no later than 12 noon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

directions to HealthStreet (2401 "old" Archer road)


Call Erick at HealthStreet at 294-4871 by Tuesday the 26th if you would like the take the free shuttle to and from the meeting.  The shuttle picks up at the Davis Cancer Center, the V.A., the U.F. Health cancer hospital, and at Hope Lodge, by reservation.

 

We need your RSVP no later than Monday April 25th if you'll be partaking in lunch ($4 donation requested). Otherwise, please bring your own lunch so that there will be plenty for those who RSVPd. 

 

Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested in hearing Dr. Mitchell's presentation, or in attending future meetings.

 

2016 schedule of meetings and confirmed speakers

 

May 25

June 22                      Dr. David Ostrov

FRIDAY July 29         Dr. Robert Hromas

Aug. 24                       Dr. Thom George

Sept. 21

Oct. 19                        Dr. Tina Lam

Nov.  date not set

Dec. 14

 

Hope to see you on the 27th for a great presentation!

 

Barb

Thursday, April 21, 2016

April-May 2016 Cancer Stakeholder


Dear Cancer Partners,



To view the latest issue please visit:https://issuu.com/floridahealth/docs/april-may_2016_cancer_stakeholder


If you would like a PDF please email cancer@flhealth.gov or click the Share link below the publication and select Download.



This issue includes:



Program Spotlight: May is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month, Melanoma Monday (May 2) and Don't Fry Day (May 27)



State Update: 2016 Florida Legislative Session



Cancer Survivor Tips: Childhood Cancer



Tools and Resources: Upcoming webinars, new tools and opportunities for continuing education credits



Healthiest Weight Florida: 60 Days to Better Health



Cancer in the News: The latest articles from great resources such as American Institute for Cancer Research, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida Department of Health, National Cancer Institute, National Center for Biotechnology Information, Medical News Today and Science Daily



Funding Opportunities: For initiatives and research focused on multi-level intervention programs in physical activity, survivorship care planning, disseminating research-tested interventions, diet and physical activity assessment, health promotion and prevention in Native American populations, breast cancer education and healthy eating research.



Events: Local and national conferences for cancer stakeholders



Please share with your partners!

Gville Sun: $1M grant supports UF research using immune system to attack brain tumors



By Christopher Curry
Staff writer

Published: Sunday, March 27, 2016 at 6:32 p.m.

Two and a half years ago, the University of Florida College of Medicine recruited Dr. Duane Mitchell and his lab team away from Duke University to build up a UF program on brain tumor research.

Since then, Mitchell and his team at the UF Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy have made steady progress in the lab and in clinical trials on using the human immune system to attack tumors in children and adults.

They launched the first UF clinical trial to use immunotherapy on children with brain tumors and have attracted an infusion of research dollars to work on developing new treatments.

Last week, Mitchell and his team received another significant funding boost — a $1 million grant from the Hyundai Hope on Wheels Foundation to conduct a four-year research project intended to lead to an improved, more effective immunotherapy treatment for pediatric brain tumors.

“Pediatric brain tumors are a significant problem and are one of the leading causes of death in children related to cancer,” Mitchell said during an interview last week at his office and lab inside the Evelyn F. & William L. McKnight Brain Institute. “For many children diagnosed with malignant brain tumors, standard treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are not always effective at eradicating the disease. The immune system has at least the potential to identify tumor cells specifically and lead to their targeted elimination from our body.”

The American Cancer Society describes immunotherapy as a “treatment that uses certain parts of a person’s immune system to fight diseases such as cancer.” The treatments may stimulate the immune system “to work harder or smarter to attack cancer cells” or give the “immune system components, such as man-made immune system proteins” to battle cancer, the American Cancer Society wrote.

In the last several years, the field has grown in clinical trials and patient treatment.

“I would definitely say we have seen an explosion, some say a revolution, and I don't think that’s an overstatement, in the last five to seven years,” said Dr. Crystal Mackall, associate director of the Stanford University Cancer Institute and an expert in immunotherapy.

She said a potential advantage of the treatment lies in the fact that when the immune system successfully fights off an infection, the body often builds up a long-time protection against that infection. If that carries over to cancer treatments, immunotherapy could provide additional protection against recurrence than other forms of treatment, Mackall said.

She said right now immunotherapy is best known for treating melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, but there has also been successes with lung cancer, leukemia, lymphoma and breast cancer.

“We are all waiting on a breakthrough for brain tumors and that has yet to happen,” MacKall said.

Mitchell and his team of researchers at UF are one group striving for that breakthrough. Their work will focus on one of the most common malignant brain tumors in children, medulloblastoma.

Mitchell said the researchers will take immune cells from a patient and stimulate them in an effort to have them “recognize” the patient's cancer cells as foreign and attack them. Because cancer cells are partially normal cells, they are often able to “hide out” from the immune system, Mitchell said. He said that’s a challenge to immunotherapy that researchers are trying to overcome.

The UF research will also work to identify good “targets” in brain tumors for the immune system to attack. That will include comparing the proteins in brain tumors to those present in normal brain tissue and studying the changes or mutations in those brain tumor proteins.

Mitchell said the research will “allow us to bring our next generation of immunotherapy” into clinical trials on treatment of childhood brain tumors.

Mitchell was one of four researchers in the country to win a Hyundai Hope on Wheels Quantum research grant.

In a press release, Hyundai Hope on Wheels officials said that, “while childhood cancer survival rates have jumped from 10 percent 50 years ago to 90 percent today, the final stretch to ending the disease will be the most difficult, evidenced by slow progress in the last 10 years. The four Quantum recipients have been identified as having the highest potential of breaking through and bringing us closer to a world without pediatric cancer.”

Mitchell and the other researchers accepted their grants last Thursday evening during a ceremony in New York City.

Monday, April 18, 2016

CME and CEUs Provided: The Latest on Colorectal Cancer Screening 4-19-16 12 pm EDT


Please see flyer attached, and please feel free to share!

 

The Florida Department of Health Presents The Cancer Free Florida Webinar Series

The Latest on Colorectal Cancer Screening and Update on 80% x 2018

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Eastern Time

Overview: Join us for a webinar discussing colorectal cancer screening rates and working toward the goal of at least 80% of Floridians age 50 and older being regularly screened by 2018.

Learning Objectives

             Review options for colorectal cancer screening

             Discuss barriers to patient screening

             Learn about strategies to motivate patients to screen for colon cancer

Intended Audience: Primary care physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, navigators, community health workers, administrators and interested stakeholders

Featured speaker:

 

 Durado Brooks, MD, MPH

American Cancer Society, National Managing Director, Cancer Control Interventions

One hour of continuing education units (CEUs) is available for Florida license holders in all Office of Performance and Quality Improvement approved boards of practice including: LPNs, RNs, ARNPs, and CNAs.

The Florida AHEC Network designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

 

To join the online meeting: Please register using the following link:


After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.

Click here to unsubscribe from future mailings.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Save the Date: April 27! Please share this upcoming Our Community, Our Health event on Lung Cancer Research!



HealthStreet, a community-engaged research initiative at the University of Florida, is hosting the 5th Our Community, Our Health event (OCOH), a town hall meeting to facilitate bi-directional communication between the community and the research enterprise. It is a vehicle to share ideas about priorities for health research, a way to communicate research findings and a way to blend ideas for research from multiple stakeholders across the country.

 Topic for the next OCOH: Lung cancer research

 Date: April 27

 Format: Local reception (optional) 5:30 to 6 p.m. EST  

 Live stream town hall 6 to 7 p.m. EST


Location: 2401 SW Archer Road, Gainesville, FL, 32608

For more information and details, click here


Please RSVP (for headcount purposes) to the in-person OCOH town hall here


Have questions before or during the town hall about lung cancer research? Tweet Us! Tweet to @UFHealthStreet or use the hashtag #CTSA or #OCOH to ask your questions.

Light Dinner and Beverages will be provided at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Register Today for the 8th Annual Rural Tobacco Summit


8th Annual Rural Tobacco Summit

Tobacco Treatment: A Call to Action

 

The 8th Annual Rural Tobacco Summit is designed to provide health professionals with up-to-date information on best practices in tobacco cessation.

This year's theme is "Tobacco Treatment: A Call to Action", and will address topics such as advocacy and e-cigarette research.

This is a day of learning appropriate for Healthcare Professionals-Doctors, Nurses, Physician

Assistants, Community Health Workers, Social Workers, Respiratory Therapists, CHES Credits, Mental Health

Counselors, Tobacco Treatment Specialists, and CHWs.

 

Click here to register!

 

Free Lunch & Continuing Education!

 

Date:

Friday, May 13, 2016

 

Time:

8:30am-5:00pm

 

Location:

Otter Springs Park & Campground

6470 SW 80th Avenue

Trenton, FL  32693

 

Co-Sponsor: Palms Medical Group

Friday, April 8, 2016

The Latest on Colorectal Cancer Screening and Update on 80% x 2018


The Florida Department of Health Presents The Cancer Free Florida Webinar Series

The Latest on Colorectal Cancer Screening and Update on 80% x 2018

Tuesday, April 19, 2016
12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Eastern Time 

Overview: Join us for a webinar discussing colorectal cancer screening rates and working toward the goal of at least 80% of Floridians age 50 and older being regularly screened by 2018.

Learning Objectives

  • Review options for colorectal cancer screening
  • Discuss barriers to patient screening
  • Learn about strategies to motivate patients to screen for colon cancer

Intended Audience: Primary care physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, navigators, community health workers, administrators and interested stakeholders

Featured speaker:

 Durado Brooks, MD, MPH

American Cancer Society, National Managing Director, Cancer Control Interventions

One hour of continuing education units (CEUs) is available for Florida license holders in all Office of Performance and Quality Improvement approved boards of practice including: LPNs, RNs, ARNPs, and CNAs

To join the online meeting: Please register using the following link:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8422930144293940225