Speakers

Graham A. Colditz is the Niess-Gain Professor in the School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, Associate Director of Prevention and Control at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, USA. Since fall 2006, he has overseen research, education, and community outreach in cancer prevention sponsored by the Center and leads the Program to Eliminate Cancer Disparities.

Dr. Colditz was born in Australia and received his B.Sc. and medical degree from the University of Queensland, Australia, and his M.P.H. and Doctorate in Public Health from Harvard University School of Public Health. In 1990 he was elected a Fellow in the Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

For 25 years Dr. Colditz was at Harvard University where he served in a number of positions.  From 1996-2006 he was principal investigator on the Nurses’ Health Study, a longitudinal study established in 1976, of 121,701 nurses, investigating risk factors for major chronic diseases in women. He established and was principal investigator on the Growing Up Today Study relating diet and lifestyle of 16,883 adolescents ages 9 to 14 at entry to their growth and health outcomes.  In 1998, he was promoted to full professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.  Dr. Colditz was also associate director of Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School from 2005-2006 just prior to coming to Washington University. He was director of the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention at HSPH and within the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center he was deputy associate director for shared resources and leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Program.

With longstanding interest in the causes and prevention of chronic disease, particularly among women, Dr. Colditz has evaluated numerous lifestyle factors including postmenopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer risk, and has developed statistical models to more accurately predict cancer risk.  Other areas of his expertise include tobacco and obesity in relation to cancer and other chronic diseases.  He has devoted much effort to the application of scientific advances in cancer prevention to broader population programs working with the American Cancer Society and the Massachusetts Cancer Control Program. He also developed the website, www.yourdiseaserisk.wustl.edu, to communicate tailored prevention messages to the public.

Dr. Colditz served as editor-in-chief of the journal Cancer Causes and Control from 1998 to 2006. In 2004, Dr. Colditz was awarded the American Cancer Society-Cissy Hornung Clinical Research Professorship.  In October 2006 on the basis of professional achievement and his commitment to public health, he was elected to membership of the Institute of Medicine, an independent body that advises the U.S. government on many issues affecting public health.

Professor Ian O. Ellis,  BMedSci BM BS FRCPath, Professor of Cancer Pathology Nottingham University, Honorary Consultant Pathologist Nottingham City Hospital, Medical Director of Source Bioscience plc.

He has been involved in the practice of pathology for over twenty five years and has an international reputation in clinical and translational research in breast disease, particularly classification of breast cancer and evaluation of prognostic factors. Author of over 400 peer reviewed scientific publications, chapters in medical textbooks and specialist textbooks in pathology and an experienced lecturer being a founder member of the faculty of the Nottingham International Breast Education Centre. He is a Fellow and a Specialty Advisor of The Royal College of Pathologists, Chairman of the UK National Co-ordinating Committee for Breast Pathology, President of the International Society of Breast Pathology, past Councilor of The European Society of Mastology, Steering Committee Member of The European Group for Breast Screening Pathology and  past Chairman of the Breast Pathology Working Group of the European Society of Pathology. He has acted as an advisor to the DoH, UICC, WHO and IARC. He is founder of PathLore and Medical Director of Source Bioscience plc.

Judy E. Garber, M.D., MPH, is Director of the Cancer Risk and Prevention Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She is attending physician at Dana-Farber’s Breast Oncology Center, an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an associate professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Garber’s research is focused on genetic susceptibility to breast, ovarian and other cancers, and the development of novel medical strategies to prevent cancer..

Michael L. Krychman, MDCM, is the Medical Director of The Sexual Medicine Center at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach California and the Executive Director of the Southern California Center for Sexual Health and Survivorship Medicine also located in Newport Beach California.  He is the former Co Director of The Sexual Medicine and Rehabilitation Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was an associate clinical attending faculty member at Cornell-Weil Medical School in New York City. Previously on hospital staff at Temple University Hospital and Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia, he was the Medical Director of Labor and Delivery.  Dr. Krychman holds licenses from three states including California, Pennsylvania and New York and is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologists.  He also is a clinical sexologist and has completed his Masters in Public Health and Human Sexuality.  Dr Krychman is also an AASECT certified sexual counselor.

Dr Krychman’s clinical interests are diverse, ranging from sexually transmitted infections, abnormal Pap smear cytology, chemotherapy-induced chemical dyspareunia and management of sexual dysfunction in cancer and non cancer patients. His special interests include sexual pain disorders, loss of libido, chronic medical illness and its impact on female sexual function as well as breast cancer sexuality.  He has a special interest in survivorship medicine which focuses on reduction of recurrence, risk reduction and optimizing general health while maximizing quality of life.

Dr. Krychman has been involved with medical research, writing, and grand rounds presentations on diverse topics related to vaginal and cervical surgery; quality of life and pelvic exeneration; use of estrogen for urogenital dystrophy and menopausal hot flashes; sexual challenges for pregnant and post surgical patients; and psycho-social aspects of breast cancer. He is a well known speaker who is featured locally, nationally and internationally.

He has served as a reviewer and editorial advisor for medical journals and coauthored chapters recently accepted for publication in two textbooks: “Cancer, Sexuality, and Sexual Expression” in Female Sexual Dysfunction, 1st ed., and “Reconstructive Surgery and Rehabilitation” in Principles and Practice of Gynecologic Oncology, 4th edition. He has published countless articles in peer reviewed journals and has been featured in many magazines.  Dr Krychman is on the editorial board for the Journal of Sexual Medicine, Current Sexual Medicine Reports and is an associate editor for Sexuality for the journal: The Female Patient. He is the Scientific Co Chairman for the 2009 International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health annual educational meeting.

Dr. Krychman’s new book, 100 Questions & Answers for Women Living with Cancer: A Practical Guide to Female Cancer Survivorship has been recently published.  He has collaborated on another book Called 100 Questions and Answers on Cervical Cancer which is now in publication and his third patient educational book which will focus on Female Sexual Wellness is scheduled for publication in early 2009.   

He has been featured in the New York Times and US News and World Report World Report, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Health Magazine and many others.  Fluent in French and English, Dr. Krychman obtained his doctorate in medicine and masters in surgery from McGill University School of Medicine in Montreal, where he was named a “Great Distinction Medical Scholar.”

Dr Krychman’s professional goal is to provide a safe and comfortable environment so that his patients may address their personal and medical concerns in a quiet confidential setting.

Charles McGarvey served in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) from 1977-2007 and retired March 1, 2007.  He was commissioned as an officer with the USPHS in 1977 following graduation from the physical therapy program at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.  He earned a Masters of Science in Community Health Education from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia in 1981. He received his Doctor of Physical Therapy from Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions (MGHIHP) in May of 2006.

He was selected Chief, Physical Therapy at NIH in 1987 and facilitated a number of clinical, educational and research programs.  Clinically, he worked exclusively with cancer patients for 20 years.    In 1990, he published the text “Physical Therapy for the Cancer Patient”.  He authored, or co-authored, over 22 articles and chapters on the subject of cancer rehabilitation. During the period 1991-1992 he was selected by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) to serve as the only physical therapist on an expert panel to develop nationally-based guidelines for the assessment and treatment of cancer pain.    He has served as President of the Oncology Section of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), and received the Jeri F. Walton PT Service Award in 1993 for his valuable contributions to the section.  Dr. McGarvey served as manuscript reviewer and research expert in the areas on cancer and prosthetics for a number of professional organizations.  In 2005, Dr. McGarvey was inducted as a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association in recognition of a career of valuable contributions that resulted in lasting and significant in science, education and the practice of physical therapy.

Dr. Elizabeth Morris is a radiologist specializing in breast imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City. Her research involves the use of MRI in the assessment of breast disease particularly in the realm of screening and staging of breast cancer. She is a well known national and international speaker and has authored over 80 papers, 15 chapters and several books including Breast MRI: Diagnosis and Intervention.  Under her guidance MSKCC led the way in breast MR intervention. She chairs the American College of Radiology (ACR) MRI BI-RDS  Lexicon committee and the ACR Breast MRI Accreditation Committee. She was raised in Brisbane, Q'ld and is excited to be back in Australia.

Dr. Olivotto is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of British Columbia and the Chief Physician and Head of Radiation Oncology at the British Columbia Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Island Centre.  His research and publication record span the range of health services in breast cancer from screening to diagnosis, treatment, communication and alternative therapy with a particular emphasis on guideline development, outcomes research and technical innovation.

Peter W.  Soballe, MD, is a graduate of the University of Illinois in Chicago and is board certified in the United States in both Surgery and Family Practice. He completed a Surgical Oncology research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and has directed the breast center at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland for the past 9 years.

Alastair Thompson graduated from the University of Edinburgh and subsequently undertook laboratory and clinical training posts in Scotland. Since 1996 Professor Thompson has worked at the University of Dundee successively as Senior Lecturer, Reader and in 2003, as Professor of Surgical Oncology in the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee where he currently works.

Professor Thompson is Director of Breast Cancer Research in Dundee with key themes of translational research in breast cancer, clinical trials and cancer audit. He has presented at numerous international meetings and published extensively in these areas.

He is Director of the new Clinical Research Centre in Dundee, Regional Lead Cancer Clinician, Chairman of the Breast Cancer Campaign Scientific Advisory Board in London, a member of several clinical trial management groups (including UK Principal Investigator  for MINDACT) and contributes to several Government, Non-Governmental and International Advisory Bodies.