News Release

June 8, 2007

Contact: Maureen McGuire, 860-679-4523
e-mail: mmcguire@nso.uchc.edu

Media Alert

A Celebration of Life: Cancer Survivors Day Is Sunday at UConn Health Center

FARMINGTON, CONN. – The University of Connecticut Health Center will celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day this Sunday, June 10, with a brunch from 10 a.m. to noon in the main Health Center building. The theme of this year’s event is “surviving together.”

A speaking program will run from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., featuring three eloquent cancer survivors: Peter J. Deckers, M.D., a surgical oncologist and the Health Center’s executive vice president; Carolyn D. Runowicz, M.D., director of the Health Center’s Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center and the immediate past president of the American Cancer Society; and a patient from the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“National Cancer Survivors Day is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to pause and celebrate life with our patients and their families,” said Dr. Runowicz.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of National Cancer Survivors Day which is celebrated in hundreds of communities throughout the U.S. and Canada in early June. According to the National Cancer Institute, there are 10.1 million cancer survivors in the U.S. today, representing approximately 3.4 percent of the population. A cancer survivor is defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer—from initial diagnosis through treatment and beyond.

The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, the UConn Medical Group, University Dentists, and John Dempsey Hospital, a Solucient Top 100 Hospital® 2006. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. To learn more about the UConn Health Center, visit our website at www.uchc.edu.

Note: News professionals are invited to visit the Office of Communications homepage at www.uchc.edu/ocomm/ for archived news releases and other information.