Experts, Advocates Gather for Fifth Annual Lung Cancer Symposium

By Spencer Watson

 
Symposium medical director Thaddeus Bartter, M.D., addresses the crowd.

Medical ethicist Micah Hester, Ph.D., shared insight about end-of-life concerns for patients and families.

Nov. 17, 2014 | A day-long event welcomed almost 200 lung cancer experts, survivors and advocates to discuss the latest information in the fight against America’s deadliest cancer.

Tobacco and Disease: The Fifth Annual Lung Cancer Symposium featured a full day of speakers on topics ranging from types of lung cancer to e-cigarettes.

“Lung cancer is by far Arkansas’ deadliest cancer. However, in many cases, it is preventable. This event is one way we’re educating both health care professionals and the public about the dangers of tobacco and its effects on individuals, families and public health,” said Thaddeus Bartter, M.D., interventional pulmonologist and professor of medicine in UAMS Departments of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Bartter was the event’s medical director.

Other topics included “News from the Hill: New and Pending Tobacco Policy,” “Secondhand Smoke and Non-conventional Tobacco Devices” and “Palliative Care and End of Life.”

Participants took part in motivational interviewing exercises designed to teach ways in which professionals can help people find their personal motivation to quit tobacco. Sessions were led by tobacco cessation expert Denise Jolicoeur of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Mike Anders, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAMS Department of Respiratory and Surgical Technologies in the College of Health Professions.

The day also included the presentation of the David Bourne Award to UAMS’ Claudia Barone, Ed.D., A.P.R.N., for her work in the field of anti-tobacco advocacy. Barone is a certified tobacco treatment specialist and is co-leader of an in-clinic cessation program at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. She also is the first nurse to be appointed to the FDA’s Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee.

“Dr. Barone is well known for her commitment to tobacco cessation and is highly recognized for her skills in training others to help people battling tobacco addiction,” Bartter said.

David Bourne, for whom the award is named, was a public health advocacy leader in Arkansas and worked successfully to ensure all tobacco settlement funds awarded to the state went toward health promotion and disease prevention programs.

The event was co-sponsored by the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Centers for Simulation Research, College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy and Center for Distance Health; Arkansas Cancer Coalition; Arkansas Biosciences Institute; and Arkansas Department of Health/Stamp Out Smoking.