The Scientific Network on Female Sexual Health and Cancer

7th Conference of the Scientific Network: Brightening Futures: Improving Sexual Health of Adolescent and Young Adult Survivors

New This Year:
Continuing Education Credit Available for Conference
We are excited to announce that continuing education credit is available for both the Conference and Pre-conference programs this year!

Submit Your Late-breaking Abstract!

Still collecting and analyzing your data? Don’t worry! You can still submit your abstract to the 7th Conference of the Scientific Network on Female Sexual Health and Cancer. We will accept late-breaking abstract submissions from those who didn’t have their data collected in time to submit during the regular abstract submission cycle through 8:00am EDT on Tuesday, September 3.

Abstracts may be original research or program/practice reports. Abstracts should not exceed 350 words and will be considered for either oral or poster presentation. Although the conference theme centers on adolescent and young adult survivors, abstracts on any population or topic relevant to the Network’s mission are encouraged and will be considered.

Speaker Highlights

Dr. Cynthia A. Gerhardt, is the Director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Gerhardt is regarded internationally as an expert in risk and resilience factors associated with family adjustment to stress, particularly life-threatening illnesses like childhood cancer. She has published over 140 papers and book chapters and has received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, and other national foundations to support her research. Notably, Dr. Gerhardt contributed to the development of international standards for psychosocial care for families of children with cancer, which have been endorsed by leading organizations around the world.

Dr. Jennifer Vencill is an assistant professor, licensed psychologist, and certified sex therapist. She holds appointments in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, as well as General Internal Medicine, where she spends the bulk of her time providing integrated sexual health care in the Menopause and Women’s Sexual Health Clinic. Dr. Vencill recently received a Rising Scholar Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality and has research interests focused on sexual health, health disparities and minority stress in marginalized sexual and gender communities, and mixed orientation relationships.

Patient Perspectives Program

The Network is pleased to have Erica Mantell, MD, as the featured speaker at Thursday night’s Dinner and Patient Perspective Program. After becoming ill entering her senior year of college, the scholar-athlete struggled with pain and uncertainty for months before finally being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The previously healthy, active young runner was thrust into a very different existence than what she was expecting for her senior year at Ohio State. To say that Erica faced the challenge head on is an understatement, as she began treatment the day after her cancer was (finally) given a name, and then proceeded through the physical and emotional ups and downs of being a patient, as well as a survivor, with determination and grace. Surrounded by a strong-support team, Erica continued at OSU as a medical student and is a newly-minted MD. Experiencing the other side of the patient-provider equation has given Dr. Mantell a unique perspective on the needs of young cancer patients and survivors. She uses that perspective to provide advice and guidance to other young cancer patients and survivors on the realities of being diagnosed with cancer at a young age. Concerns as varied as struggling with the unknown, asking for help and losing independence as a young adult, to coping with the aftermath of early menopause, as well as its impact on fertility, are all experiences and feelings that she has had first-hand. A stellar example of a young adult survivor, we look forward to hearing Dr. Mantell’s remarks, and we encourage you to join us.

Pre-conference CME Course:
Highlighting the Needs of Special Populations

We are thrilled to offer our second-ever Scientific Network Pre-Conference CME Program, entitled Highlighting the Needs of Special Cancer Populations. This Pre-Conference CME Course is geared toward clinicians caring for women experiencing sexual health concerns due to cancer and is meant to provide clinicians with the knowledge, tools, and training to address the sexual side effects of cancer treatment.

This year’s course focuses on addressing the needs of "special populations" of female patients and survivors who are often overlooked in research and clinical guidelines. This course features innovative talks by experts in the field of sexual health in cancer: Drs. Jeanne Carter, Sharon Bober, Shari Damast, Susan Kellogg-Spadt, Stacy Tessler Lindau, Kristen Carpenter, Shari Goldfarb, and Carol Kuhle.

Topics that will be covered in this dynamic pre-conference CME course include:

• Sexual health in the era of genetic testing
• HPV-related cancers and sexuality
• Implications of radiation therapy for sexual health
• Sexual health in relation to stem-cell transplant and hematological cancers
• Cancer as a chronic disease
• Managing comorbidities and late effects of treatments on sexual health for survivors

Join Us in Columbus!

Columbus, OH, is the 14th most populous US city, second in the Midwest after Chicago. Its sports teams include The Ohio State Buckeyes (NCAA football), Columbus Bluejackets (NHL hockey), and Columbus Crew (MLS soccer).

This capital city’s incredible culinary scene features top-ranked chefs, a rich farm-to-table movement, one-of-a-kind restaurants and nationally acclaimed distilleries. Neighborhoods on all sides of downtown are bursting with new places to eat and shop, and artists are shaping new areas of the city into dynamic spaces to explore. For a schedule of events and attractions, see www.experiencecolumbus.com.

Our host, Ohio State University, has well over 66,000 students enrolled, making it one of America's largest and most comprehensive universities. It was rated 1st among Ohio public universities and 17th among all public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.”

With 10 ranked specialties, the Wexner Medical Center ranks among fewer than one-half of 1 percent of hospitals.The OSUCCC – James is the only cancer program in the United States that features a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designed comprehensive cancer center aligned with a nationally ranked academic medical center and a freestanding cancer hospital on the campus of one of the nation’s largest public universities. The James earned NCI’s highest ranking, “exceptional,” and received a five-year, $23 million NCI support grant.

Welcome New Members

• Kristi Anderson, MD, MPH, Atlanta, GA (CDC)
• Elizabeth Boatman, BS, MEd, MS, Fort Worth, TX (Texas Women's University - Family Sciences)
• Stephanie Buehler, PsyD, CST-S, Newport Beach, CA (The Buehler Institute)
• Lisa Egan, PA-C, Portland, OR (Oregon Health and Science University)
• Laura Huffman, MD, Little Rock, AR (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences)
• Philip Odiyo, PhD Candidate, Nairobi, Kenya (Faraja Cancer Support Trust, Kenya)
• Emily Schafhauser, MD, Eagan, MN (Fairview Health Services)

Upcoming Meetings of Interest

American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
2019 Annual Meeting
Chicago, IL
September 15-18, 2019

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