NIH Hosts, 2007 Cancer Health Disparities Summit Cancer Health Disparities

Catalyzing Trans-disciplinary Regional Partnerships to Eliminate Cancer Health Disparities! Cancer affects people of all races and ethnicities in the United States. One in four deaths in America is due to cancer. Each year 3,400 people in America are diagnosed with cancer and another 1,500 die from the disease. The National Institutes of Health is hosting its annual Cancer Health Disparities Summit in Bethesda, Maryland, from Monday, July 16 through Wednesday, July 18. The Summit will provide an opportunity for journalists and science writers to learn more about current research in the field and to talk with researchers and experts from across the nation. About Claudia R. Baquet, MD, MPH: Associate Dean for Policy and Planning, Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine As Associate Dean for Policy and Planning at the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine, Dr. Claudia R. Baquet serves as an advocate for better health care, including issues relating to the health needs and models for underserved communities, telemedicine and rural health initiatives. Dr. Baquet also serves as director of the Maryland Area Health Education Center Program, director of the Center for Health Policy/Health Services Research and director of the Center for Health Disparities. In 2003, she became director of the University of Maryland Comprehensive Center for Health Disparities. Dr. Baquet seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate health disparities. In 2002, Dr. Baquet served as the chair of the Governors Commission for the Prevention of Infant Mortality and received the Governors Citation for the reduction of the Maryland infant mortality rate. Dr. Baquet is also the 2004 co-recipient of the U.S. Department HHS Best Practice Award for Increasing Availability of Community-Based Clinical Trials on the Eastern Shore . Dr. Baquet was formally recognized by the Maryland Senate for her work to reduce cancer disparities and most recently for her longstanding commitment to the community. Dr. Baquets recent awards include NIHs Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Special Award for Closing the Health Gap in the Communities We Serve, the American Public Health Associations 2005 David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health, the National Medical Associations Council on Concerns for Women Physicians Research Award, and in May of 2006, Dr. Baquet received the Racial Justice Award from the YWCA of the Greater Baltimore Area. Dr. Baquet received her M.D. in 1977 from Meharry Medical College , Tennessee , and her M.P.H. in epidemiology in 1983 from Johns Hopkins University , School of Hygiene and Public Health. Her residency was in pathology at St. Louis University and Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital . For more info, visit: http://crchd.cancer.gov To veiw video: