Events

Liver cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. In India, liver cancer is the tenth most frequently occurring cancer. Risk factors that contribute to this disease include chronic alcohol consumption, history of Hepatitis B and C virus infections, inherited liver disease, cirrhosis and obesity. In spite of HBV vaccines being available worldwide, global epidemiological trends show that liver cancer cases are on the rise with national, regional, or population specificities. With cancer symptoms being virtually uncontrollable in the advanced stages of this disease, early detection among high-risk individuals is essential to reduce the burden of liver cancer worldwide. 
Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center invite you to a critical discussion around the screening, early diagnosis and prevention of liver cancer. Our panel of experts will discuss and analyze the global liver cancer burden and elucidate effective and targeted prevention strategies to control liver cancer in India and the world. 

PANELISTS:

• Elizabeth Zheng,Transplant Hepatologist, Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation, New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
• Rajesh Dikshit, Director, Center for Cancer Epidemiology, Tata Memorial Center
• Regina Santella, Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

CHAIRPERSON:

Ravina Aggarwal, Director, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai

About the Speakers

Elizabeth Zheng is a transplant hepatologist at the Center for Liver Disease and Transplantation at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.  She is triple board certified in transplant hepatology, gastroenterology, and internal medicine and has particular expertise in liver cancer, general liver disease management, and end-stage liver disease. Her research interests include hepatocellular carcinoma as well as healthcare disparities, particularly with regard to liver health within the Asian American community. She is the director of the Asian Liver Health Initiative, a culturally and linguistically sensitive program focused on improving education and increasing access to specialty liver care for Asian Americans.

Rajesh Dikshit is Director, Centre for Cancer Epidemiology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, India. He is the Principal Investigator for IARC Regional Hub for Cancer Registration in Central, Eastern and South Asia and is responsible for establishing cancer registries in many parts of India. Professor Dikshit is the principal investigator of numerous studies on gall bladder cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer and is currently working on establishing a cohort of 2 million individuals for his study entitled 'Indian Study of Adult Health (ISHA)'. He has about 80 publications in International journals including Lancet, Lancer Oncology, NEJM, British Journal of Cancer, International Journal of Cancer etc. He has edited and authored chapters in books, including in UICC Manual of Clinical Oncology. 

Regina M. Santella, is Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Her research is focused on the use of biomarkers of exposure and genetic susceptibility to understand risk for cancer development concentrating on liver and breast cancer. Her laboratory has developed antibodies and immunoassays to a number of carcinogen-DNA and protein adducts and uses these methods to determine exposure to environmental carcinogens. Other assays have been used to understand genetic susceptibility related to DNA repair capacity using phenotyping methods. More recently, her laboratory is investigating the use of epigenetic markers, including DNA methylation and microRNA expression, to identify those at increased risk or as early biomarkers of disease.