The California Dialogue on Cancer is pleased to invite you to California’s Dialogue for Action conference entitled Californians Taking Action to Conquer Colorectal Cancer – A Dialogue for Action. This conference will be held June 1 – 2, 2006, at the San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina in San Diego, California. This conference was developed in collaboration with the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation’s Dialogue for Action™ program. The conference will provide an opportunity for health-care providers, policy makers, insurers, researchers, advocates, and survivors to develop strategies designed to increase colorectal cancer screening rates in California.

The conference will consist of two distinct, but interrelated components: educational presentations on the afternoon of Thursday, June 1 and concurrent roundtable discussions on the morning of Friday, June 2. The educational presentations are designed to give attendees the most current, evidence-based information on colorectal cancer. The roundtable discussions are highly interactive, with a facilitator, key discussant, and recorder for each. Each roundtable discussion will conclude with identified goals and strategies to assist with the advancement of the California Cancer Plan objectives for colorectal cancer. There will be ample opportunity to interact with state leaders and peers. A take-home packet of useful provider and patient educational resources will be given to each participant.

We are honored to have a keynote speaker of national stature to address conference participants. Dr. Harold Freeman, Medical Director of the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and Professor of Clinical Surgery at Columbia University will speak on overcoming challenges to colorectal cancer screening in primary care.

We certainly hope you will be able to take part in what promises to be an exciting and stimulating conference. Your participation will help ensure the success of this conference and the advancement of colorectal cancer prevention in California.

Please review the itemized categories found on the left side of this web page for detailed conference information as well as an online registration form. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Debbie Hintz, California’s Dialogue for Action Coordinator, at dhintz@dhs.ca.gov or 916-449-5540.