David Shibata, MD, FACS, FASCRS, a professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has been selected to serve as an expert panelist for the Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (EO-CRC) Think Tank, which is part of the National Institutes of Health and supported by the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Dr. Shibata is the Harwell Wilson Alumni Endowed Chair in Surgery, professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, and executive director/chief medical officer of the UTHSC Cancer Program.
The two-day meeting aims to bring together national experts from inter-disciplinary fields to identify research priorities, barriers, and potential solutions surrounding early-onset colorectal cancer.
Dr. Shibata is taking part as an expert panelist and will speak regarding the biological mechanisms of early-onset colorectal cancer. Dr. Shibata directs a Hereditary and High-Risk Colorectal Cancer Clinic that provides treatment and support for patients affected by this disease.
“Those of us in the field have certainly recognized that there has been a disturbing trend of an increasing number of younger individuals being diagnosed with colorectal cancer,” Dr. Shibata said. “With tragic cases like those of the young actor, Chadwick Boseman, who recently died of colorectal cancer, this is increasingly now also on the public radar. This meeting will be incredibly important to lay out future strategies to attack this critical problem.”
The EO-CRC Think Tank is taking place online today and tomorrow.