Description:
After skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis in women in the United States. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and an opportunity for education and increased awareness of this disease, as well as a call to action: How can tools from lifestyle medicine reduce breast cancer risk? In this webinar, the expert speakers will provide an evidence-based review of risk factors for breast cancer, the role of lifestyle factors in reducing risk for breast cancer, and the importance of screening for breast cancer given the challenges of the pandemic.
Learning Objectives:
- Review risk factors for breast cancer and the role of genetics
- Discuss the latest evidence regarding lifestyle factors and breast cancer risk reduction
- Emphasize the importance of return to screening given delays during the pandemic
Speakers Bios:
Nigel Brockton
American Institute for Cancer Research
Nigel Brockton is Vice President of Research at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). After more than two decades as a cancer researcher, a two-time cancer survivor and fervent cancer research advocate, he joined AICR in 2017. He now combines all of his passions directing the AICR research program spanning the cancer continuum – through cancer prevention, treatment and survivorship. Nigel earned his PhD in the genetic epidemiology of colorectal cancer risk from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He then moved to Canada to establish his own research program (Cancer Molecular Epidemiology) focusing on the impact of lifestyle factors on cancer metastasis, particularly in breast, colorectal, and head and neck cancers. He maintains an appointment (Adjunct Associate Professor) at the University of Calgary’s Department of Community Health Sciences, and he continues to conduct collaborative research.
Amy Comander, MD
Mass General Cancer Center
Dr. Amy Comander specializes in the care of women with breast cancer. Dr. Comander is Co-Medical Director of the Mass General Cancer Center in Waltham, where she also serves as Director of Breast Oncology and Cancer Survivorship at the Mass General Cancer Center in Waltham and at Newton Wellesley Hospital. She is an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received her undergraduate degree and a master's degree in Neuroscience at Harvard University. She received her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine residency training and Hematology-Oncology fellowship training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in Hematology and Medical Oncology, and she is a Diplomate of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.
Simran Malhotra, MD
MedStar Health
Dr. Simran Malhotra is a triple board-certified physician in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care and lifestyle medicine. She is currently the Palliative Care Medical Director at Medstar Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She was named “Top Doc” in 2019 and 2020 by Baltimore Magazine in Palliative Medicine. She completed the T. Colin Campbell Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate in 2019, the Culinary Health Education Fundamentals (CHEF) Coaching Certificate n in 2020, and she is currently pursuing the Wellcoaches Certification. She is a member of the ACLM Women’s Health Member Interest Group and serves as the Co-chair of the Breast Cancer Subcommittee. On a personal note, she is a BRCA 1 previvor with a strong family history of breast and female reproductive cancers, who underwent a risk reducing bilateral mastectomy and total hysterectomy in 2020. She is passionate about educating women at high risk for cancer.