By Heidi Olinger, WiSCI board member
While receiving a cancer diagnosis can be lonely, not to mention frightening, getting tough on cancer will be a community endeavor March 6 and 7 at Colorado State University.
Scientists, pioneers, oncologists and hands-on practitioners will connect the community to their work and perspectives, thanks to the CSU Women in Science Network and its 8th annual symposium. The event will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with attendees welcome to the full day or as much of the symposium as they are able to attend. Attendance is free, and registration is open online through Feb. 29.
Cancer’s impact
On average, more than one in three people in the United States will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, says the American Cancer Society. The ACS estimates that new cancer cases will exceed two million in 2024, a record high. Every minute, four new cases are diagnosed, and at the same time, cancer takes the life of one individual each minute. For Colorado, the ACS is estimating nearly 30,000 new cancer cases in 2024 across all types of cancer affecting women and men.
The March 6 symposium will connect the community to extra layers of support for navigating cancer, including but not limited to, regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and cancer research; using art to translate scientific ideas and health impacts; and providing clarity on hospice care as distinct from palliative care and why the two are confused and misunderstood.
“The goal of palliative care is to provide the best quality of life for every patient, no matter the illness or the treatments,” says Helen Kilzer, MD, founder of the Banner Health Palliative Care Program at McKee Medical Center in Loveland, Colorado. Dr. Kilzer will deliver the symposium’s opening remarks.
“A patient does not have to have a terminal illness to receive palliative care. The palliative care relationship is one of trust and adapts based on what a patient and family are going through,” Kilzer added.
Other speakers include Nicole Ehrhart, a surgical oncologist at CSU’s Flint Animal Cancer Center and professor and director of the Center for Healthy Aging; Mallery Quetawki, artist-in-residence with the Community Environmental Health Program at the University of New Mexico; Hailey Kepler, an inpatient and outpatient palliative care and hospice nurse practitioner at the UC Health Cancer Care and Hematology Clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado; and more. A full list of presenters can be found here.
Day one of the symposium will conclude with wellness round-table presentations and experiences, including oncology yoga.
Student-focus
The Women in Science Network also is welcoming 200 high schoolers from Poudre School District to the symposium on March 6. The experience will connect students with hands-on learning, a slice of academic life at CSU, and professionals in science, tech, engineering, art, and math. Students may register themselves online but are urged to connect with the science department in their respective schools.
On March 7, the symposium will focus on budding scientists, engineers, mathematicians, medical professionals, and artists in grade 3 and grade 7. Students at those grade levels will enjoy a day of experiential learning at CSU.
To reinforce the fact that no one has to endure illness alone, the Women in Science Network has scheduled the symposium to coincide with Women’s History Month and segue into International Women’s Day, March 8.
About the Women in Science Network
The annual symposium aims to reach as many students, scholars and local and regional community members as possible. Symposium sessions engage students in dialogue with women of ingenuity and tenacity.
“We are fortunate to celebrate the eighth year of the Women in Science Symposium. Each year is more inspiring than the last as we learn from leading scientists and innovators about their career journeys, discoveries, and achievements,” said Candace Mathiason, co-founder and director of the Women in Science Network.
“Whether our participants are primary students or doctoral-level candidates, we hope to create a spark that will persist and motivate our participants to be curious and achieve,” she added. Mathiason is a professor of microbiology, immunology, and pathology at CSU and directs WiSCI alongside Assistant Professor Julie Moreno of the Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences department.
The Women in Science Network exists to empower women and girls in science from K-12 through terminal degrees.
“We believe that the solution to barriers women and girls face in science education and in science fields is discovered by linking arms with people of all genders, all races, all colors, and all ages,” Moreno said.
Along with the symposium, the network organizes and promotes the quarterly Innovating Minds Lecture Series and fosters small-group development for Colorado State students and faculty on career issues.
