Midwest Cancer Symposium

Make plans to attend the October 7 Midwestern Symposium on Environmental Determinants of Pediatric Cancer and Congenital Anomalies at the Truhlsen Event Center on the UNMC campus. The symposium will bring together experts from across the region and will feature research presentations and opportunities to learn and share.

The keynote speaker at this year's symposium is Dr. Tom Luben, an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill and a senior epidemiologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  He conducts and publishes policy-relevant epidemiologic studies. His primary expertise lies in exploring exposures to air pollution and water contaminants while focusing on reproductive and developmental outcomes. Recently, he has worked to gain an understanding of the association between exposure to environmental (including the built environment) and climatic conditions (both individually and as cumulative impacts) and various adverse birth outcomes (such as birth defects and preterm birth) and fetal and infant mortality. Tom holds an MSPH degree from Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in Environmental Health from Colorado State University. In his spare time, Tom is an avid tennis player and outdoor enthusiast.

Register

Agenda

8:30 - 9 a.m. Registration

9 - 9:15 a.m. Welcome - Don Coulter, MD, Director, Pediatric Cancer Research

9:15 - 9:30 a.m. Brief Remarks from Leadership - Dele Davies, MD, Interim Chancellor, UNMC

9:30 - 10:40 a.m. Keynote Presentation - Thomas Luben, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, Senior Epidemiologist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  

10:40 a.m. - 12:10 p.m. - Panel Discussion on the Intersection between Cancer and Congenital Disorders

• • Eric B. Durbin, DrPH, MS, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky; Director of Cancer Research Informatics, Markey Cancer Center;
  • Julie M Petersen, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, UNMC
  • Darrin Thompson, MPH, PhD, Associate Director, Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination, University of Iowa
  • Kari Weber, PhD, MHS, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

12:10 - 1:20 p.m. Lunch / Networking / Poster Session

1:20 - 2:50 p.m. Panel Discussion: Environmental Exposure and its Potential Roles in Pediatric Health Conditions

• Jesse Bell, PhD, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Water, Climate and Health, College of Public Health, UNMC
• Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, PhD, Department Chair Donald R. Voelte, Jr. and Nancy A. Keegan Chair of Engineering and Professor Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• Tara Nordgren, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, UNMC
  

2:50 - 3:50 p.m. Call for actions 

• Dr. Don Coulter, Director Pediatric Cancer Research Group, CHRI; Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, UNMC
• Jonathan Eric Agin, JD, Co-Founder, Childhood Cancer Prevention Initiative and Executive Director, PREP4Gold

3:50 - 4 p.m. Closing - Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Professor, Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health and Associate Director, Community Outreach & Engagement, Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, UNMC