Contact: Will Sansom, (210) 567-2579

Graciela Cigarroa (left) is chair of the Health Science Center’s Council for Excellence in Women’s Health. Mary Henrich is the council co-chair.
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SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 28, 2008) — The UT Health Science Center San Antonio’s Council for Excellence in Women’s Health and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure San Antonio Affiliate will present the Second Annual Multicultural Conference on Breast Cancer from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6.

The event will be held at the Health Science Center’s Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Campus, 7703 Floyd Curl Drive, in the lecture halls located next to the Dolph Briscoe Jr. Library.

Related links: Facts about Breast Cancer

Thanks to the generous support of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Valero Energy Corp., this conference is free to the public. Guest speakers, medical leaders and cancer survivors will address issues of breast health in a culturally sensitive manner.

Topics designed to appeal to a wide audience
The event provides a unique, creative and non-threatening forum for individuals of all backgrounds, including breast cancer survivors, community health advocates and medical professionals. They include:

• Diet, Nutrition and Fitness
  
• Breast Cancer in African-American, Asian, Latina, Older and Younger Women
  
• Breast Cancer is Not a Death Sentence
  
• Breast Reconstruction
  
• Cultural Beliefs and Breast Cancer

Lunch will be provided. The day also will include panel discussions.

Reservations
To make a reservation to attend the conference, call (210) 222-9009, ext. 100, or send a note to info@sakomen.net by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3. More information is available at www.komensanantonio.org.

The conference will begin with an introduction by event co-chairs Graciela Cigarroa and Dona Kotzur. Cigarroa is chair of the Council for Excellence in Women’s Health (Mary Henrich is co-chair). Kotzur is board president of Komen for the Cure San Antonio Affiliate.

Dr. Amelie Ramirez to give keynote presentation
Tyler J. Curiel, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the UT Health Science Center, will welcome the audience and introduce the keynote speaker, Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H., who will highlight the importance of cultural diversity and women’s health.

Dr. Ramirez, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Health Science Center, is the founding director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research in the School of Medicine and serves on the CTRC executive committee. In 2007, she was invited to join the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, due to her many contributions to women’s health.

Breast cancer survivors to make presentations
In addition to sessions on the topics listed, breast cancer survivors will be recognized at a special time in the program. At least seven of the scheduled speakers are survivors.

The Multicultural Conference will provide a valuable community service — educating women about the risks of breast cancer and the importance of early detection through mammography, the clinical breast exam and breast self-awareness.

Health resources to be on display
The conference also will include exhibits displaying health resources available in the San Antonio/Bexar County service area.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.