$50,000 Grant from Get Your Rear in Gear – New York City funds lecture series about GI issues in young adults
The Colon Cancer Coalition is collaborating with The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health and Center for Advanced Digestive Care at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center to create the Amy Covey Lecture Series: Digestive Disease Prevention and Treatment in Young Adults. The $50,000 grant for the program is provided through money raised at the Colon Cancer Coalition’s 2010 and 2011 Get Your Rear in Gear 4-Mile Run/Walk in New York City.
The Get Your Rear in Gear Amy Covey Lecture Series is a series of four lectures discussing serious gastrointestinal diseases in young adults. Each educational session will feature an expert physician, clinician or researcher in the field of gastrointestinal disease biology, screening, prevention, and/or treatment. Two of the four lectures will be provided to the medical community, while the other two will be offered to young adults in the corporate setting. While many serious digestive diseases, such as colorectal cancer, occur largely in men and women age 50 and older, they can occur in younger people as well. This lecture series will aim to increase knowledge in this area and help to ensure the prompt diagnosis and treatment of serious digestive diseases in younger adults. The lectures will be held annually with the first expected this fall, given by Dr. Felice Schnoll-Sussman, Acting Director of The Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health.
“We are grateful to the Covey family and Colon Cancer Coalition for making this lecture series possible. We believe it will be very beneficial in increasing knowledge and helping to ensure the prompt diagnosis and treatment of serious gastrointestinal diseases in younger adults,” said Dr. Schnoll-Sussman.
“We are excited to create this educational program with the Jay Monahan Center,” stated Kathy Covey, local event director for Get Your Rear in Gear New York City. “We hope the creation of this educational series will go a long way to informing the medical community about gastrointestinal issues in young people, specifically colorectal cancer and precursors to that disease.”
Amy Covey passed away in 2009 from colon cancer at the age of 33. Amy’s parents Kathy and Dick Covey, along with her sister Sarah and several friends, started Get Your Rear in Gear – New York City in 2010. Their goal has been to raise awareness of the disease with the hopes of making a difference for young patients like their daughter who are facing a diagnosis of colorectal cancer or other serious gastrointestinal disease.
A presentation ceremony will be held on Sunday, June 10, at the Get Your Rear in Gear 4-Mile Run/Walk at Prospect Park in Brooklyn.