Dr. Kunle Odunsi will give the opening address at the BUILD (Build Unity, Independence, Liberty & Dignity) of Buffalo Convention. The convention will take place June 1-2. The theme for the event is “Closing the Gap: Healthcare is a Civil Right…Not a Privilege” which will explore access to health care, employment, education, economic development. He is the Chair of the Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Director of the Center for Immunotherapy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
Dr. Odunisi earned his medical degree from the University of Ife in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He completed his postgraduate training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. After completing a research fellowship in molecular oncology, he earned a doctoral degree at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories overseas from the University of Oxford. He also completed a residency at the Yale University School of Medicine, and a clinical fellowship in gynecologic oncology at Roswell.
BUILD of Buffalo’s two-day event will mark its 18th annual convention. The address will take place at 9 a.m. Friday, June 1, at the Friends Inc. Center located at 118 East Utica Street. Dr. Odunsi will discuss his path toward a career as a physician and researcher working to develop vaccine therapies to treat cancer, and give perspectives on how to close the gap on healthcare disparities.
Having partnered with Roswell before to promote health and improve the quality of life for the region’s residents, BUILD now looks to tackle another joint initiative that supports responsible tobacco retailing by limiting the advertising of tobacco products in delis and convenience stores. BUILD has also partnered with Roswell Park’s Office of Cancer Health Disparities Research to bring awareness of cancer screening and treatment programs to the minority community.
Additional 2-day event speakers:
LaVonne Ansari, PhD, of the Community Health Center of Buffalo
Rev. George Franklin Nicholas of Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church
Charley H. Fisher III, BUILD President.
For more information and to register, call 716-650-8889.
Registration (breakfast included): $20 for individual attendees, $50 for families (up to five people) and $100 for groups of six or more.