Continuing the Collaboration

Transcription

1 CDC: Regional American Indian Cancer Conference Continuing the Collaboration Speaker Biographies Arlene St. John- Black Bird Program Director/RN- Case Manager, Cheyenne River Breast & Cervical Early Detection Program John Blackhawk Chairman, Winnebago Tribe Linda Burhansstipanov Grants Director, Native American Cancer Research Corporation Anne Marie Collingwood - Certified Zumba Instructor, Encore & YWCA Kim Crawford Rapid City Regional Hospital Francis Davis - Traditional Healer, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Tribe Francis R. Davis is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. He is a permanent Deacon from the Fargo Diocese of North Dakota. Francis worked for the Turtle Mountain Tribe for approximately 20 tears in the addiction field. He has been instrumental in organizing programs such as the Turtle Mountain Prayer Group, established in 1989, which is still in place. This group consists of about 50 people who go into homes of persons suffering from various illnesses or grieving issues, or whatever the cause may be. This group has prayed with cancer patients on countless occasions and have had many success stories to tell. Francis also established the Sobriety Rides that rode horses from reservation to reservation for a period of 4 years. This ride was huge and involved the whole community and encouraged youth to attend. Many lessons were learned and teachings were conducted on these rides. Francis is also a Sundancer and has conducted sweats for a number of years. He is currently retired, however, he still remains involved where he is needed. Tinka Duran Project Coordinator, Great Plains Tribal Chairmen's Health Board Leah Frerichs, MS Program Manager, Northern Plains Comprehensive Cancer Control Program

2 Lisa Harjo Project Coordinator, Native American Cancer Research Corporation Kassy Jarvis Community Health Representative, Eastern Shoshone Tribal Health Melissa Jim Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention T Ronda Joseph Public Health Advisor, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention Donna Keeler Alma Knows His Gun McCormick Linda U. Krebs, RN, PhD, AOCN - Associate Professor, University of Colorado College of Nursing Dr. Henry Lynch, MD - Chair of Preventive Medicine, Creighton University I would like to share with you a little history of myself, so you can get to know me and some of my past experiences in cancer research. In 1944, at only 16 years of age, Henry T. Lynch joined the United States Navy. He proceeded to serve in the European theater, the South Pacific battles and the Philippine liberation. Two years later, after receiving his honorable discharge he began studies toward a baccalaureate degree. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in Thereafter, in 1952, at age 24, he obtained his Master s degree in psychology from Denver University. He earned his medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1960, after completing all the coursework toward a Ph.D. in Human Genetics at Austin. As an Internal Medicine resident at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Dr. Lynch met patients who had many family members who were affected by or who had died of the same type of cancer they themselves had been diagnosed with. Because of his strong background in genetics Dr. Lynch had the idea to look at cancer from a genetics perspective (he postulated that cancer could be hereditary) rather than from an environmental point of view (which at the time was the only acceptable cause for cancer in the medical circles). This idea became the main focus of his research for years to come. In 1970, he applied for an NIH grant to study in more depth his ideas. In his grant proposal, Dr. Lynch presented a family with numerous people affected with colon cancer. He clearly showed that there had to be some factor at work accounting for the more than frequent presence of cancer throughout the family. Nevertheless, the committee reviewing his grant did not agree with him and thoroughly rejected the idea that cancer could be hereditary.

3 For the next 20 years Dr. Lynch applied for many other grants and more often than not was rejected. He nevertheless continued his research on minimal funding convinced he would one day be able to prove that cancer can be hereditary. His painstaking record- keeping and compilations of family medical history data led him to identify cancer syndromes and their patterns of inheritance through generations of extended families. In the course of his work, Dr. Lynch developed what are today regarded as the cardinal principles of cancer genetics: early age of onset of the disease, specific pattern of multiple primary cancers, and Mendelian patterns of inheritance in hundreds of extended families worldwide. With the discovery by other researchers of the genes that cause Lynch Syndrome, it is possible to predict with nearly 90% accuracy the risk of the disease in patients with direct germ- line mutations. With early detection, Lynch Syndrome and other colon cancers are curable in 90% of patients. Dr. Lynch also demonstrated the Mendelian inheritance patterns for certain breast and ovarian cancers, now known as Hereditary Breast/Ovarian Cancer Syndrome; this work contributed to the discovery in recent years of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes. In addition, in 1984 he established Creighton's Hereditary Cancer Prevention Clinic, an interdisciplinary clinic where families can find information and services related to all hereditary cancers. Dr. Lynch's publications number more than 650 journal articles and more than a dozen books related to the diagnosis, prevention, counseling and treatment of hereditary disorders, primarily cancer. He serves on the editorial board of Anticancer Research- International Journal of Cancer Research and Treatment, advisory boards of Critical Reviews in Oncogenesis and the Journal of Tumor Marker Oncology. Judy Morrison Executive Director and Spiritual/Cultural Consultant, 7 Feathers - Iowa Department of Corrections Denise Padilla M.Ed. - Professional Development and Outreach Coordinator, Wyoming Department of Health's Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Denise Padilla is the Professional Development and Outreach Coordinator for the Wyoming Department of Health's Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. She is responsible for statewide professional development, public education and outreach, and partnership and coalition activities. She oversees the Native American Women's Health Program project on the Wind River Reservation. The purpose of the project is to increase early detection of breast and cervical cancer through education, support, and screening services for women.

4 Mark Pershouse PhD - Associate Professor, University of Montana After completing undergraduate work in biology at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Dr. Pershouse earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences under the guidance of Professor Elton Stubblefield at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center under the supervision of Professor Peter Steck, and a brief postdoctoral associate position at Baylor College of Medicine with Drs Craig Chinault and Allan Bradley, he joined the faculty at The University of Montana as a Research Assistant Professor in September of 2000, was promoted to Assistant Professor in 2002, and to Associate Professor in Marie Bruch Breaker Randall Traditional Healer Marie Brush Breaker Randall, Oyate Akitapi Win - Nation Woman, is Oglala from the Pine Ridge Reservation and lives in Wanblee, South Dakota. A respected elder and herbalist, she has ten children, five boys and five girls. Her mother was Eliza Bear Shield, or Anawiz - Jealous of Her. Her dad's name, Jeffery Brush Breaker means "breaking of brush limb to save his people." Her Grandmother's name was "Takes the Bull Away" and her grandfather was Bear Shield. Marie's tribe originally occupied the area along the Missouri River (at what spot?). The band split up and the band that stayed along the river is called the Lower Brule. Today, her band resides on the Rosebud Reservation and the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Marie is a traditional storyteller. She recalls learning teachings from her traditional elders, especially her Unci, which means grandmother in the Lakota language. She tells how Unci used to take her out to gather herbs for making and using medicines in the old ways; share advice for women with child; and how the people use water to pray for healing. She shares topics that include why the people have vision quest, how you earn your name, and how the identity of the people is tied with their language. Marie is comfortable speaking to diverse audiences. She knows oral history from the Burnt Thigh band, and stories of Chief Spotted Tail, who signed treaties along with Red Cloud. She includes environmental topics such as the Sicangu Way of Life Project she is involved with, and the Sicangu Lakota Herbal Cooperative that has been developed for making, using and sharing herbal medicines. She also discusses the sacredness of the earth, the water and the Wachipi or dancing of the elders, families and different bands of people. She also talks about the drum beat, which is the heart beat of the Lakota Nation, sharing that no one is left out when there is a drum beat, that it can bring back memories from the past. She also talks about the real meaning of the dream catcher. Joyce Sayler Program Director, North Dakota Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, North Dakota Department of Health Joanne Scott Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition Harmony Spoonhunter Director, Eastern Shoshone Tribal Health

5 Roger Trudell Chairman, Santee Sioux Nation Shinobu Watanabe- Galloway - University of Nebraska, College of Public Health