Lab Employees Launch Cancer Awareness Campaign With Symbolic Walk

Who: A broad coalition of Lab employee networking groups and programs has taken the concept of National Cancer Survivors Day and expanded it to a monthlong cancer awareness campaign that will feature a number of speakers, including nationally recognized breast cancer specialist Dr. Susan Love.

What: The event gets under way with a walk on Tuesday, June 5. Employees are invited to participate in the 15-minute trek, which will begin in front of Health Services, proceed around the lake and down South Gate Drive and end at the LLESA pool/picnic area. (See following schedule of events.)

When: The walk will begin at noon on Tuesday, June 5.

Where : The walk and all of the talks are located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

NOTE: Members of the media may attend any of these events, however, badging is required. Please call Liz Garcia at (925) 422-7655. The final talk by Dr. Susan Love on July 10 is in Building 123, which is in an open area and accessible to the public.

LLNL Cancer Awareness Campaign
— A Schedule of Events —

• In addition to the walk, the Laboratory’s monthlong cancer awareness campaign will feature seven talks ranging from new research weapons in the fight against cancer to drugs, diet and alternative medicine. The scheduled talks are as follows:
  
  • Peregrine: Advancing the Field of Radiation Treatment of Cancer, by Lab physicists Rosemary Walling and Christine Hartmann-Siantar on Thursday, June 7, at noon in the Bldg. 361 auditorium. Peregrine was developed at the Lab using advanced radiation simulation technology to improve the effectiveness and safety of radiation therapy for cancer patients.
  
  • BBRP Research Into Mutagens in the Food We Eat, by Jim Felton of the Lab’s Biology and Biotechnology Research Program, on Tuesday, June 12, at noon in the Bldg. 361 auditorium. Felton will discuss the long-term project to examine the amounts of the chemicals in foods and their effects in a variety of biological test systems.
  
  • When the Disease Can Be Cured But the Treatment Could Kill You: The Role of 'Stem Cells' in the Treatment of Cancer, by Dr. Cherie Evans, chief medical officer of the American Red Cross Blood Services in Northern California, on Thursday, June 14, at noon in the Bldg. 543 auditorium. Evans will talk about the use of chemotherapy to treat cancer and what happens when it also destroys the cells in bone marrow that produce the cellular element of blood.
  
  • Can We Prevent Prostate Cancer? The Epidemiological Evidence, by Barbara Sternfeld, an epidemiologist and exercise physiologist with Kaiser's Division of Research, and Donna Schaffer, a public health nutritionist, on Thursday, June 21, at noon in Bldg. 170. They will discuss the kick-off of the California Men's Health Study, a new project funded by the state of California to determine the causes of prostate cancer.
  
  • Cancer Survivors Panel, featuring six Lab employees who have beaten cancer, on Friday, June 22, at 12:30 –2 p.m. in Bldg. 543. The employees will share their inspiring stories, offer advice and words of wisdom.
  
  • Drugs, Diet and Alternative Medicines to Help Treat Cancer, by Donald Hill, a Livermore pharmacist, on Thursday, June 28, at noon in Bldg. 361. Hill, who has been a pharmacist in Livermore for 30 years, will offer a wealth of information about medicine and its effects on the body.
  
  • Wishful Thinking Is Not Enough, by Dr. Susan Love, an adjunct professor of surgery at UCLA and the medical director of the Susan Love M.D. Breast Cancer Foundation, on Tuesday, July 10, at noon in the Bldg. 123 auditorium. Love, who was appointed by President Clinton to the National Cancer Advisory Board, is one of the founders and a director of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
  
  • Raging Lights Breast Cancer Quilt, which commemorates breast cancer victims, survivors and caregivers, will be on display at each of the talks. The quilt was made by Susan Gray of the Raging Lights Breast Cancer Quilt Project.