Twice in one week, the University of Illinois Cancer Center shared information about cancer with fans, players and coaches at UIC Flames basketball games.
Cancer Center member H. Steven Sims, MD, a UI Health otolaryngologist, and Sodabeh Etminan, DMD, MPH, Dental Director for Mile Square Health Center – South Shore, engaged with fans about oral health and mouth and throat cancers, sharing goodie bags filled with information cards, dental floss and toothbrushes. UI Health urologist Ikenna Madueke, MD, PhD, spoke with fans about prostate cancer before the game and then during a halftime interview that was streamed live on ESPN+ when the men’s basketball team took on Indiana State January 24.
The outreach was part of a new partnership the Cancer Center has with the Flames. The partnership is an opportunity to share information about cancer awareness, prevention, screening and clinical trials with our community of students, faculty, staff, their friends and families, and sports fans at games.
On January 21, Cancer Center members and staff, along with volunteers from the UI Health Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, worked the Flames women’s basketball game sharing information about cervical cancer and the importance of HPV vaccination.
Upcoming basketball games scheduled to feature Cancer Center outreach and education are:
- Thursday, March 7 @ 7 p.m., women’s basketball, focus is colon cancer awareness with #CECIL, the giant inflatable colon.
- Saturday, March 9 @ 1 p.m., women’s basketball, focus is colon cancer awareness with #CECIL, the giant colon.