Blogs

Cancer survivors, their families and friends, and the Northwestern community that supports them
, will come together on National Cancer Survivors Day, June 2^nd, to walk and celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center’s signature event, the Annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration & Walk. The event brings people affected by cancer together in Grant Park to honor cancer survivors and celebrate the strides being made in treatment and research. Come out and join us for this memorable event in Chicago celebrating survivors with a picnic, kids’ corner, t-shirts, music, entertainment, the Dedication Wall, and more.

The Walk is about three miles, but registrants can walk any distance they’d like and return to Grant Park whenever they choose to. In fact, you don’t even have to walk, you can just come out and enjoy the picnic, entertainment, and help celebrate! In commemoration of its 20^th year, the Annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration & Walk has added an optional timed 5K Run along the lake to mark the occasion. The 5K Run is limited to 500 participants, so make sure you get over to registration and secure your spot! Use discount code NURUN and save $15 when you register for the 5K before May 29th!

The success of the Cancer Survivors’ Celebration & Walk depends on volunteers — and with the addition of the new 5K Run there are even more ways to help. Talk to friends or families about volunteering together! You can sign up to volunteer when you register online.

Volunteer opportunities include assisting with:

• Pre-event registration and t-shirt pick-up (city & suburb locations)
• Decorations
• Greeting runners and walkers in Grant Park
• Greeting and directions at shuttle sites
• Registration and t-shirt pick-up at Grant Park
• Food tent
• Be the Match donor registration at Grant Park
• Information tent

Donations are not required to take part in this community awareness event honoring cancer survivors; however, contributions to support research and education at the Lurie Cancer Center are optional, and can be made here. Registration is $15 per person in advance and $25 on the day of the Walk, beginning at 7 a.m. There is no charge for children under 2 years old. Registration for the 5K Run is $50 per person, which includes the Walk Fee (see 5K Run page for details).

We hope you’ll join us in Grant Park on June 2nd as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the nation’s largest National Cancer Survivors Day celebration with more than 3,500 survivors, families, and friends. See you there!

This week is National Women’s Health Week. In honor of this important health awareness week, the Women’s Health Research Institute recently hosted the third annual Celebrating National Women’s Health Week event at Prentice Women’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. Activities included keynote speaker, Holly Herrington, MS, RD, LDN, from the Center for Lifestyle Medicine, a poster session featuring current research in women’s health, and exhibitors from in and around Chicago promoting women’s health through advocacy, research, and/or education. Approximately 400 people attended this event, making this year the most successful turnout yet!

Anxious to take part in this fantastic event bringing awareness to gender specific health issues and organizations, we signed up to participate alongside two dozen other groups promoting women’s health. Exhibiting next to us was a local organization called SHINE, which provides infertility group support in Chicago for men and women experiencing fertility struggles. Together, we proved to be a popular stop for health care professionals, specifically nurses, eager to bring fertility preservation information back to their patients. Recognizing fertility as a critical component of patient care, they expressed their gratitude for the Consortium’s efforts to educate clinicians about the value of discussing reproductive health outcomes with newly diagnosed pediatric, adolescent, and young adult cancer patients, and their parents when appropriate.

While perusing the exhibit tables, attendees were also exposed to a poster session displaying the latest in women’s health research. Woodruff Lab members presented their research to captivated audiences eager to learn more about the future of women’s reproductive health. Another Woodruff Enterprise making its mark at the poster session was the Women’s Health Science Program (WHSP), providing science education programs to females from underserved communities. WHSP targets young women who are considering careers in science and medicine and prepares them with valuable knowledge and skills to successfully become the next generation of women science leaders.

At noon, keynote speaker, Holly Herrington, RD, LDN, a Registered Dietitian in the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, took the stage to discuss how women should be eating to maintain optimal health at every age. Holly’s presentation centered on helping attendees understand how nutritional needs for women evolve across their lifespan, and how they change based on different health and disease states. She provided information on nutrients, vitamins, and the evidence behind dietary recommendations, which can protect against or contribute to the development of chronic health issues, such as obesity, osteoporosis, and other diseases. The takeaway message from her presentation was to eat a healthy diet mainly comprised of superfoods in an effort to lower cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, improve mood and keep your weight in check. Sounds like good medicine to us!

To read more about Celebrating Women’s Health Week, please visit the Women’s Health Research Institute website.

by Megan Carlson, Guest Blogger for the Oncofertility Consortium

My name is Megan, and I will be your guest blogger for today.

I’m a journalism graduate student who had the great pleasure of shadowing Dr. Teresa Woodruff Tuesday as part of my health and science reporting practicum.

As soon as I arrived at 8 AM, Dr. Woodruff and I hit the ground running– greeting and checking in with the entire staff, from the program managers to the researchers already diligently at work in the lab.  This daily process is part of Dr. Woodruff’s efforts to maintain open communication with the entire lab.

We next traipsed over to a large conference room, where a group of 15 mostly-female scientists were already gathered with coffee and notepads ready for the weekly staff meeting, called the “R3 Data Club.”  Dr. Woodruff insists the entire team (who are located in several different locations) meet via web conference each week to discuss developments in the lab and present their research.  This is another explicit effort by Dr. Woodruff to ensure her team acts on the same page and immerses younger team members in the mission and work of the lab.

While some of the nitty-gritty details flew over my head (my knowledge of science could probably fill a thimble), I was impressed by the engagement of the staff as they listened to and questioned postdoctoral fellow, Pam Monahan, PhD’s, presentation on interactions among signaling pathways leading to potential disruptions in follicle development (itself, a possible contributing factor topolycystic ovary syndrome).

After the meeting, we rushed off to a government relations teleconference where a group, including Sharon Green, executive director of the Women’s Health Research Institute (WHRI) and Nadia Johnson, a program manager, planned the Chicago and Springfield Women’s Health Week celebrations.  Dr. Woodruff quickly switched her hat from hard-nosed scientist, asking pointed questions to her researchers about gene signaling pathways, to politically-savvy division chief, strategizing about how to best promote gender-specific scientific research to legislators, scientists and other interest groups.

I spent the remainder of the day shadowing Dr. Woodruff as she discussed efforts to increase enrollment in the Illinois Women’s Health Registry–an initiative that seeks to overcome the lack of sex-specific scientific research by connecting female research participants and researchers— and then following program managers and researchers who introduced me to the work of the Oncofertility Consortium.

The day was an educational whirlwind.  I absorbed a flood of scientific information about infertility, fertility preservation, and the reproductive system (augmented by time I spent Monday in the reproductive fertility clinic of Dr. Mary Ellen Pavone, who works closely with Dr. Woodruff).  I also witnessed the behind-the-scenes political work, research, and coordination that function to produce the newest innovations in fertility treatment and women’s health.  It was fascinating to see all the cogs in the machine interact together to create these beneficial and progressive outcomes.

Many of you may already know about the widely popular organization, Stupid Cancer, but for those of you who are new to our blog, Stupid Cancer is the nation’s largest support community for young adult survivors of cancer. They support a global network of survivors, caregivers, providers and advocates to ensure that no young adult is unaware of the age-appropriate resources available to them. Stupid Cancer empowers young adults affected by cancer through innovative and award-winning programs and services, including Stupid Cancer Happy Hours, the Stupid Cancer Show, and the annual OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults.

The annual OMG! Cancer Summit for Young Adults is the premier oncology conference and social networking event for the young adult cancer movement. A pivotal healthcare event, OMG! is one of the largest gatherings of young adult patients, survivors, caregivers, professionals and advocates in the world. The event inspires thousands to get organized, build community and unite as one to drive change. In April, Stupid Cancer hosted its sixth OMG! Cancer Summit in Las Vegas, NV, and attracted over 600 attendees. As one would expect, Stupid Cancer makes the weekend-long event not only informative but also FUN, with events such as an ice cream social, and Stupid Cancer pub trivia.

Over the last few years, members of the Oncofertility Consortium have attended OMG! to help young survivors understand their fertility options and provide resources and pertinent information to young adults whose fertility may have been affected by their cancer treatment. This year, Consortium member, Laxmi Kondapalli, MD, MSCE, moderated two breakout sessions entitled, “Fertility: Rights & Options With, Through, And Beyond Care.” Dr. Kondapalli served as the clinical expert and reproductive health specialist alongside Alice Crisci, advocate and Founder of Fertile Action, and Jennifer Rockman, ovarian cancer survivor.

The framework of their session revolved around all the different routes to parenthood available to young cancer survivors, including banking eggs, embryos, ovarian tissue, and semen; using a gestational carrier; and pursuing adoption. Dr. Kondapalli stated that the overwhelming theme that evolved from the sessions was the lack of information presented to newly diagnosed cancer patients regarding the potential impact on their fertility. Attendees were eager to learn about the different tests available to gauge fertility, such as ovarian reserve testing for women and semen analysis for men. They also wanted to learn more about their fertility options following cancer treatment and, specifically, how their treatment may have impacted their fertility. Participants left armed with information and resources, and even Dr. Kondapalli’s personal email address, should they need her clinical expertise at any point in their fertility journey.

To learn more about your fertility options, visit SaveMyFertility.org, or contact us at 1.866.708.FERT (3378).