IBM Israel Research Seminars

In the United States, an estimated 15,000 women with hereditary cancer syndromes are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. To identify these women as mutation carriers AFTER a diagnosis of cancer is frustrating and discouraging. Had these women been identified as high risk BEFORE they developed cancer, the cancer may have been prevented or at least found at an earlier, more treatable stage. The major barrier to identification is that family histories are seldom taken well, and if taken, are seldom analyzed properly or acted upon. Our solution to this is computer use for family history collection and analysis. In this talk I will discuss large volume collection of family history data (clinical & genetic), identification of individuals at high risk, and increased efficiency of care and genetic testing.

I have been a member of the HL7 Clinical Genomics standards group for over 3 years, and have been actively involved with that committee in developing the Family History Clinical Genomics standard.

Speaker Bio
Dr. Hughes is a member of the Department of Surgical Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he is the Surgical Director of the Breast Screening Program, Surgical Director of the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genetics and Risk Assessment Program, and Co-Director of the Avon Comprehensive Breast Evaluation Center. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Medical School, and trained at Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh for general surgery. He did a fellowship in surgical oncology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Hughes is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and was formerly on the faculty of Tufts University, the University of California, Davis and Brown University. Dr. Hughes has served on numerous national and regional committees and is actively involved in research regarding the genetics, screening, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. He is the author of numerous papers and book chapters on the subjects of breast cancer, screening, diagnosis and treatment, and risk assessment.