March 6 Free Event for Tackling Cancer Elevates Knowledge, Resources and Its Impact on Everyone

From Diverse Therapies to Oncology, Women in Science Symposium at CSU to connect community with professionals and perspectives for navigating cancer treatment and gaining layers of support 

While receiving a cancer diagnosis can be lonely, not to mention frightening, getting tough on cancer will be a community endeavor on March 6 at Colorado State University. Thanks to the CSU Women in Science Network and its 8th annual symposium, scientists, pioneers, oncologists and hands-on practitioners will connect the community to their work and perspectives. The event is from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Attendance is free – attendees are welcome to attend the entire day or as much as possible.  Registration is open for all genders online through February 29 at WomenInScienceci.colostate.edu/. 

More than one in three people in the United States will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. The ACS estimates that new cancer cases will exceed 2 million in 2024, a record high. Four new cases are diagnosed every minute, and each minute, cancer takes the life of another human. For Colorado in 2024, the ACS is estimating nearly 30,000 new cancer cases of all types of cancer, affecting women and men. 

The symposium will connect the community to extra layers of support for navigating cancer, which include regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, and cancer research through art to translate scientific ideas and health impacts. “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. Dr. Kilzer will deliver the symposium’s opening remarks and clarify how hospice care differs from palliative care and why the two are confused and misunderstood. She adds, “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.”

Other speakers include Nicole Ehrhart, a surgical oncologist at CSU’s animal cancer center and professor and director of CSU’s 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 complete list of presenters is at WomenInScienceci.colostate.edu/. The symposium also will include wellness round-table presentations and experiences, including oncology yoga. 

The Women in Science Network welcomes 200 high school students to the symposium. 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 (STEAM). Hands-on workshops created just for high schoolers include food microbiology with CSU Professor Katriana Popichak and digital learning and well-being with Pretty Brainy and HP. Students may register online at WomenInScienceci.colostate.edu/ and, for transportation to and from the symposium, are encouraged 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 grades 3 and 7 only. Students at those grade levels will enjoy a day of experiential learning at CSU.

To reinforce 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 on March 8.