As techniques of cancer diagnosis and cancer therapies have improved, cancer survivorship has increased. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death, and because of this, cardio-oncology has emerged as a field of study where patients with current or prior cancer diagnoses are treated for heart problems.
Researchers at the Cardiovascular Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin are studying cardio-oncology to not only treat heart and blood vessel conditions following these life-saving treatments, but also working to learn how they can be prevented.
Learn more about the impact of cancer therapies on cardiovascular health and the long-term effects on cancer survivors. Listen to doctors talk about preventative lifestyle modifications that can help improve patient health, and discover exciting research happening in our very own backyard!
Topics for discussion
What IS Cardio-oncology?
Common types of cancer therapies that contribute to the development of various heart conditions
Lifestyle modifications related to diet and physical activity for cancer survivors
Treatment for cancer survivors and how cardiologists and oncologists are working together to treat patients
Ongoing research areas at MCW focused on the field of cardio-oncology
Dinner will be served.
Presented by CTSI in collaboration with…
Brought to you in part by the MCW Cardiovascular Center from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment Grant Awarded to the CVC by the Research and Education Program Fund
Carmen Bergom, MD, PhD, MPhil
Assistant Professor
Radiation Oncology and Pharmacology and Toxicology
Medical College of Wisconsin
Dr. Bergom an Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). She treats breast cancer patients at the MCW Cancer Center, and she also has a translational research laboratory focusing on using innovative genetic models to improve the therapeutic ratio radiation therapy by identifying targets to enhance tumor radiosensitivity and minimize normal tissue toxicities.
A large focus of her research is how to decrease damage to the heart due to cancer treatments.
Dr. Bergom obtained undergraduate degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master’s degree in Epidemiology at Cambridge University, and M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from MCW.
She completed her medical residency in Radiation Oncology at MCW. During her residency, she was named a Leonard B. Holman Research Pathway Fellow by the American Board of Radiology.
Throughout her training and career, Dr. Bergom has been interested in coupling basic research findings with translational and clinical research.
Dr. Dabbouseh is a cardiologist and medical director of the cardio-oncology clinic at MCW. She earned her medical degree at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker school of Medicine, where she conducted research in a cancer genetics lab. She completed her internship at Stanford University and her residency at the University of Chicago.
She joined MCW as a cardiology fellow and stayed on after completing fellowship to start the cardio-oncology clinic.
She is interested in research that could help identify patients at risk for cardiac issues that could arise from cancer therapies and is also interested in studying how best to treat patients so they can recover their heart function and quality of life and complete cancer therapies without delay.
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