Endometriosis Foundation of America Hosts the 5th Annual Scientific Medical Conference on March 7 To Kick-Off Endometriosis Awareness Month

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The conference highlights the politics of women’s health rights, and treatment of women from medical, legal, and ethical perspectives.

New York, New York (PRWEB) February 25, 2014

The Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA), founded by Tamer Seckin, MD, and Padma Lakshmi, continues to demonstrate its commitment to promoting better health and quality of life for women with endometriosis by hosting its 5th Annual Medical Conference addressing Politics, Ethics and Controversies in Endometriosis and Women’s Health - a two-day meeting open to both medical professionals and women with endometriosis.

EFA, the Nation’s leading non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the recognition of endometriosis, will host the New York City conference at the Metropolitan Club where world renowned experts, master surgeons, and scientists will present the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

“The conference highlights the politics of women’s health rights, and treatment of women from medical, legal, and ethical perspectives,” said Dr. Tamer Seckin, scientific chair of the conference and co-founder of the EFA with Padma Lakshmi. “My vision has always been to start a dialogue about the state of American women’s health, particularly, for women with endometriosis. This is a misunderstood, often times misdiagnosed, disease, which, in this country, is not talked about enough. There is a lot of bias, prejudice, and discrimination against women with endometriosis in school and in the workplace and from the healthcare system in general. EFA’s mission is to change this!"

Dr. Seckin has established the Harry Reich Award in honor of Dr. Reich’s pioneering work in laparoscopic surgery and his lifetime commitment to perfecting minimally invasive procedures in women’s healthcare. Professor Liselotte Mettler from the University of Kiel and Professor Linda C. Giudice from the University of California, San Francisco, will be the first two recipients of this award. “These two extraordinary women – a surgeon and a scientist whose own seminal work and careers mirror the contributions of Dr. Reich - have improved the lives of thousands of women around the world,” said Dr. Seckin.

A groundbreaking provocative discussion on the politics of endometriosis will feature three political advocates: Byllye Avery, founder of the Black Women's Health Imperative and the Avery Institute for Social Change; Lone Hummelshøj, Secretary General of the World Endometriosis Society (WES); and Judith Waxman, Vice President of Health and Reproductive Rights at the National Women’s Law Center.

Other topics will include the controversies in cancer and endometriosis, ethical fertility treatment, managing chronic pain, immunity, stem cells, and the role of robotic surgery. Prominent speakers include Frank Chervenak, MD, world-renowned OBGYN ethicist and the chair of the OBGYN department at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Robert Kurman, MD, Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Oncology and Pathology and Director of Gynecologic Pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“EFA is proud to host this annual conference and to be affiliated with such talented doctors and experts in the medical field. So many women aren’t getting treatment because they aren’t properly diagnosed. Education and awareness is the key to a better understanding of endometriosis. Asking questions when visiting your doctors is the beginning,” says EFA co-founder and endometriosis sufferer, Padma Lakshmi, author and host of Top Chef.

Faculty for the conference are affiliated with North Shore LIJ Health System/Feinstein Institute for Medical Research; North Shore LIJ Health System/Lenox Hill Hospital; Brigham and Women’s Hospital - Boston Hospital & Medical Center; Memorial Sloan Kettering; John Hopkins University; NYU Langone Medical Center; New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Medical College of Cornell University; University of British Columbia; Michigan State University; University Hospitals Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany; University of California, San Francisco; and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center.

For more information or to register for the conference visit http://www.endofound.org, call 516-361-2181, or email mdconference2014@endofound.org.

The Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA) was founded by Tamer Seckin, MD and Padma Lakshmi in 2009 to fight the devastating effects of endometriosis. In the last five years, EFA has increased awareness about the disease among healthcare providers and the general public; conducted advocacy activities to encourage support for education; and launched the nation’s first endometriosis tissue bank to facilitate research. EFA places a particular emphasis on the critical importance of early diagnosis and effective intervention. EFA’s annual scientific conference advances the dialogue about and the treatment of endometriosis by uniting the most innovative thinkers and practitioners across disciplines.

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