The Barbados Cancer Association USA (BACA), Inc. in collaboration with the Barbados Nurses’ Association of America Inc., and the Caribbean American Medical and Scientific Association (CAMSA), Inc. held the Dr. Deborah Brathwaite Annual Cancer Symposium on Saturday, September 18, 2021. The topic was Cancer Diagnosis and Treatments: Past, Present and Future.

Welcome and opening remarks were given by Heather Marsh, President of BACA and the invocation by Rev. Dr. Laurel E. Scott Pastor, Wakefield Grace United Methodist Church, Bronx, NY.   Speakers were Dr Harold Harvey, MB BS, Medical Oncologist and Emeritus Professor of Medicine Pennsylvania State University, PA, and Dr Simone Mays, MD Breast Surgical Oncologist at Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center, NY.

Dr. O’Neall E. Parris, MD, MPH, FAAP, Chairman, Barbados Association for Cancer Advocacy and Chairman of the Barbados Diaspora Collaborative USA facilitated a discussion with two cancer survivors Sandra Alleyne and Betty Forde-Bovell who shared their experiences battling cancer.  The symposium was moderated by Dr. Diana Callender, MBBS, DM Clinical Hematology.

Dr Edward Alleyne, RN, PhD, BACA Education Committee Chair and President, CAMSA, introduced the moderator and gave the closing remarks.