President Of Uruguay To Speak At ASTRO Annual Meeting

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Conferences;  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 18 Oct 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology is pleased to announce that His Excellency Tabare Vazquez, M.D., President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, will present a special guest lecture at ASTRO's 49th Annual Meeting to be held October 28-November 1 in Los Angeles. Dr. Vásquez, who is a radiation oncologist by training and specializes in breast cancer treatment, will speak October 30 at 9:00 a.m. at the Los Angeles Convention Center on the impact of cancer on the social arena.

Dr. Vázquez graduated from the University of the Republic School of Medicine in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1972 as a radiation oncologist. He has also been a Level 5 professor of oncology radiotherapy at the school of medicine since 1987.

In 1989, Dr. Vázquez was elected mayor of Montevideo, the largest city in Uruguay with a population of more than 1 million. He served on the National Mayor's Congress from 1990 to 1994 and was president of the congress in 1993. He has also served as the president of the political coalition Encuentro Progresista - Frente Amplio since December 1994. Dr. Vázquez was elected to his current position as president of Uruguay on October 31, 2004, and began serving his five-year term on March 1, 2005. He continues to see patients one morning a week at the Mammary Diagnostic Center in Montevideo.

"I am honored to have Dr. Vázquez speak at this year's Annual Meeting," said Louis Harrison, M.D., a radiation oncologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and president of ASTRO. "It is truly inspiring how Dr. Vázquez divides his time between service to his country and service to his patients, and I believe that everyone attending this year's meeting will be very anxious to hear what he has to say regarding healthcare and politics."

The ASTRO Annual Meeting is the premier scientific meeting in radiation oncology and attracts more than 11,000 oncologists of all disciplines, physicists, biologists, nurses and other healthcare professionals from all over the world. The theme of this year's meeting is "Treating Cancer while Preserving Quality of Life," and the program will promote interdisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of ideas, information and practical solutions for prevention, organ function preservation, treatment options and quality of life for patients.

ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with 9,000 members who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through education, clinical practice, advancement of science and advocacy.

http://www.astro.org