Events

Time: 6:30 pm (India) | 1:00 pm (GMT) | 9:00 am (New York) 

Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and Columbia University’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center invite you for the first webinar of “Screenings that Save: A Seminar Series on Cancer Diagnosis” featuring perspectives from distinguished scientists and medical professionals to create awareness and promote appropriate cancer screenings in India.

To welcome Global Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the webinar will focus on breast cancer diagnostics, particularly screening, as cancer screenings are integral to treatment and care. In India, breast cancer is the largest killer among all cancers in women and accounts for one of every two global deaths related to breast cancer. Lack of organized screening programs, limited access to care, and poor awareness have all contributed to delays in detection and high mortality rates. As health systems prioritize Covid-19 treatment over all else, the past months have seen significant difficulties in accessing critical cancer diagnosis and treatment worldwide.  Our distinguished panelists will explore the central challenges of breast cancer screening during Covid-19 and identify measures that will help health systems and breast cancer patients in India to access early detection and continued testing mechanisms for improving their health outcomes. 

Inaugural Remarks: 
● Anil Rustgi, Director of Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Associate Dean of Oncology, Chief of Cancer Services
● Ravina Aggarwal, Director of Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai
Panelists: 
● Roshni Rao, Chief of Breast Surgery Program at New York-Presbyterian / Columbia University Medical Center
● Mary Beth Terry, Professor of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health 
● Sumeet Shah, Chief Oncologist, SilverlineOncoCare 

About the Speakers:

Dr. Anil K. Rustgi is the Director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Associate Dean of Oncology (Columbia University Irving Medical Center) and Chief of Cancer Services (New York Presbyterian Hospital). Dr. Rustgi is a world-renowned leader in the field of gastrointestinal oncology. His interdisciplinary research focuses on tumor initiation, the tumor microenvironment and tumor metastasis in the context of gastrointestinal cancers, including cancer of the esophagus, pancreas, and colon. He has been elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Previously, he was president of the American Gastroenterological Association, editor-in-chief of Gastroenterology, and president of the International Society of Gastroenterological Carcinogenesis. He has multiple publications to his credit and has been recognized for his contributions with numerous awards, including the AGA Julius Friedenwald Lifetime Achievement in Gastroenterology Medal (2017), AGA Distinguished Mentor Award (2016), the Ruth C. Brufsky Award for Excellence in Research in Pancreatic Cancer (2013), the Distinguished Achievement Award from the South Asian American Society for Cancer Research (2012), and an American Cancer Society Research Professorship.

Dr. Roshni Rao has been the Chief of Breast Surgery at New York Presbyterian since October 2017. She is also the Vivian L. Milstein Associate Professor of Surgery at Columbia University. Her research interests include techniques to optimize breast operations, management of the axilla in breast cancer, and individualized assessment of the risk of triple negative breast cancer. She has numerous publications including first author manuscripts in JAMA, Cancer, and the Annals of Surgical Oncology (ASO). She currently serves as the Chair of the American Society of Breast Surgeons Patient Safety and Quality Committee and is a member of the editorial board of the Annals of Surgical Oncology.

Mary Beth Terry, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology and Environment focuses her research on cancer prevention with a specific focus on breast cancer. She is a cancer epidemiologist with over 20 years of leading studies of cancer etiology specifically focused on the role of genetics, epigenetics, and other biomarkers play in modifying the effects of environmental exposures. Dr. Terry currently leads NIH grants funded through the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences that focus on following cancer risk within family-based cohorts focused on studying environmental exposures during key windows of breast cancer susceptibility. She is also leading prospective studies to validate and extend breast cancer risk assessment models. 

Dr. Sumeet Shah is a Surgical Oncologist, based in Mumbai. He specializes in the surgical management of breast and gynecological Cancers and currently runs his own clinic at Silverline OncoCare. He is affiliated to several major hospitals across Mumbai where he operates on breast cancer patients. After completing his Masters in General Surgery from JJ Hospital, he underwent training in Surgical Oncology at the prestigious Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai. Dr. Shah runs one of the most popular Indian sites on breast cancer and also administers the only existing active online forum for Indian breast cancer patients. He is affiliated to an NGO - The Pink Initiative, and has performed more than a hundred presentations on breast cancer awareness, for various groups, over the last several years.