The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) is pleased to announce that Medicine, Media, and Patients: A New Professional Language, presented by Sbarro Health Research Organization (SHRO), will convene on Saturday, November 2, from 9 - 11:30 a.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel as part of the NIAF 44th Anniversary Gala Weekend. The conference will include updates on precision medicine in oncology, an analysis of the state of health communication in Italy and America, as well as reflections from a former cancer patient.

“As the Internet and social media assume greater importance in the communication of medical information, it’s vital for both researchers and journalists to ensure that this information is factually correct,” says Dr. Antonio Giordano, M.D., Ph.D., founder and director of SHRO and NIAF Board Member.

During the conference, Italian journalist Gerardo Ausiello of Il Mattino will discuss the risks, limits and prospects of science communication in Italy, followed by freelance writer Ilene Raymond Rush, who writes regularly for the Philadelphia Inquirer, speaking about the contemporary mistrust of science and how health journalists might help remedy this problem.

Among the medical panelists participating will be Professor Alfonso De Nicola, former medical director of the SSC Naples soccer team, and Dr. Raffaele Aiello, director of the Omnia Lab and an expert in the field of infertility.

The medical conference will conclude with the annual Giovan Giacomo Giordano NIAF Award for Ethics and Creativity in Medical Research, presented by Giacomina Massaro-Giordano, M.D., professor of Ophthalmology, Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania.

For further updates on the NIAF Gala Weekend schedule, which are subject to change, please visit www.niaf.org/gala.