Posted in Sponsors

Second Annual GvHD Symposium Will Unite Nation’s Leading Blood Cancer

and Bone Marrow Transplant Specialists in Cleveland

Conference Open to Both Cancer Survivors and Healthcare Professionals

Cleveland, Ohio -- The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation are bringing a national educational conference on Graft vs. Host Disease (GvHD) to Cleveland on Friday, Nov. 4, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, 24 Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio.  GvHD is a life-threatening complication experienced by an estimated 60 percent of all leukemia and other blood cancer patients following bone marrow transplantation. The keynote speaker is Dr. Gerard Socie of Hospital Saint Louis in Paris, France, who will discuss, “Chronic GvHD and its impact on long-term survivorship.”

“This is the only event of its type focusing exclusively on GvHD,” said Gerald Cowden, Chairman of the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation. “It brings together the nation’s foremost physicians, surgeons, research scientists, educators and other specialists in the fields of hematology, oncology, bone marrow transplantation and immunology.  We believe the work of these individuals will lead to significant improvements in the lives of patients battling GvHD and its symptoms.”

Who Should Attend

The symposium is open to both the general public and healthcare professionals. It features two tracks:  a scientifically rigorous one for physicians and other medical practitioners, and a patient track focusing on bone marrow transplant recipients and their families.  

Admission is free of charge for cancer survivors and their families.  Registration for healthcare professionals (includes CME credits), is $100 for physicians and pharmacists, $75 for nurses and other healthcare professionals and $25 for students.  Reservations are required for survivors, families, caregivers and healthcare professionals.  Online registration is available at www.gvhdsymposium.org.

Professional tracks cover “Regulatory T cells for GvHD,” “Viral Reactivation,” “Identifying Human Minor Histocompatibility Antigens Targets Involved in GVL and GVHD,” and “Proteomics and GvHD.”  Survivors and their families attend sessions on coping with the stress of GvHD, dry eyes, nutrition after bone marrow transplants, new drugs for GvHD and more.  Concurrent sessions will be held covering the history and prevention of GvHD.

Participating research and medical institutions include: University Hospitals, Case Medical Center and the Seidman Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Eastern Michigan University, the University of Michigan, Moffitt Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh, Baylor College of Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Stanford University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Hospital Saint Louis and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  

About the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation

Cleveland attorney Gerald Cowden, together with his family and a core group of dedicated supporters, founded the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation in 2007, after his daughter was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).  In its four years of existence, the foundation has raised more than $250,000 for research and patient funding.  For more information, visit the Website at http://www.cowdenfoundation.org/.