Public Event Explains Links Between Breast Cancer and Environment

CINCINNATI—Anyone who wants to understand how the environment may increase breast cancer risk should attend “Looking Upstream for Environmental Links to Breast Cancer,” a public forum hosted by the University of Cincinnati (UC) Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center (BCERC).

The event takes place Saturday, May 13, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at UC’s Genome Research Institute,

“We want to help people understand how environmental research is conducted and what early childhood exposures might impact women’s risks of breast cancer,” says Kathryn Brown, PhD, an assistant professor in UC’s environmental health department.

“Through education and research like this,” she adds, “our scientific understanding of environmental factors that affect breast development, health and disease will continue to grow.”

John Peterson Myers, PhD, coauthor of the book “Our Stolen Future” and founder of the Virginia-based nonprofit organization Environmental Health Sciences, will give a keynote address on new discoveries in environmental health and disease prevention.

Fran Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition (appearing on video), and UC environmental health experts Robert Bornschein, PhD, and Susan Pinney, PhD, will also talk about environmental exposures, biomarkers in human health research and the role of breast cancer advocates in research and education.

Established in 2003, the Cincinnati BCERC—one of only four such centers in the nation—is a joint research effort between the UC College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The BCERC’s work focuses on the relationship between environmental factors and breast cancer and educating the community on its findings. The center is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

Registration is $15 and includes a buffet breakfast, educational materials and parking. Space is limited and registration is requested by Monday, May 8.  Nursing continuing education credits are pending.

This year’s event is cosponsored by the Breast Cancer Alliance of Greater Cincinnati, Patterns Inc., Pink Ribbon Girls and the Sisters Network Cincinnati, with funding support from the National Institutes of Health.

For more information, visit www.eh.uc.edu/growingupfemale, e-mail growingupfemale@uc.edu or call (513) 558-0854.