Nursing leadership speaks at National Cancer Prevention Workshop
Pictured left to right: Dr. Melinda Ickes, UK CON Dean Janie Heath, Dr. Ellen Hahn and Less Cancer Founder and Director Bill Couzens.
Less Cancer National Cancer Prevention Workshop in Washington D.C. on Feb. 5.
UK College of nursing leaders Dean Janie Heath, Dr. Melinda Ickes and Dr. Ellen Hahn were featured guest speakers at the recent National Cancer Prevention Day Less Cancer Workshop in Washington D.C.
As part of the workshop, Dean Heath and Dr. Ickes lead a discussion on the hot topic of vaping among young people in the United States. In 2019, national data showed that 5 million young people (children in middle school and high school) reported regularly using e-cigarettes — up from 3.5 million who reported using them in 2018. Dr. Ickes spoke to the reasoning and factors behind the increase in the use of e-cigarettes, the misconceptions around vaping and how to help prevent and treat vaping addiction.
Dr. Hahn participated in a separate panel discussion later in the day where she talked about radon being the second leading cause of lung cancer and the reasoning behind it. She also spoke to the need of tobacco prevention and radon testing to go hand-in-hand, and the current disconnect and silos surrounding it in public health.
View Dean Heath and Dr. Ickes discussion on vaping.
View Dr. Hahn's panel discussion on radon.
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Dr. Janie Heath is dean and a Warkwick Professor of Nursing at the UK College of Nursing. She is also board member of the Less Cancer Foundation. Read Dean Heath's complete bio.
Dr. Melinda Ickes is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Kinesiology within UK's College of Education. She has a joint appointment in the College of Nursing and is a Faculty Associate of the BREATHE (Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments) research team, serving as Co-Director of the Tobacco Policy Research Program and Director of Go Tobacco-free.
Dr. Ellen Hahn is Professor in the Colleges of Nursing and Public Health at UK and Director of BREATHE (Bridging Research Efforts and Advocacy Toward Healthy Environments) including the Tobacco Policy Division, the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy (KCSP), and the Radon Policy Division. She is the Deputy Director of UK-CARES (Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences) and Leader of its Community Engagement Core. She is also a Faculty Associate at UK’s NCI-designated Markey Cancer Center, and a member of the Lung Cancer Translational Research Group
