TONIGHT at the Tabernacle!!

Cache Community Connections and its Logan Tabernacle Concert and Lecture Series Committee will present a lecture in the Logan Tabernacle on Friday evening, February 12 at 7:00 p.m.  Dr. Wallace Akerley from the University of Utah School of Medicine will be the featured speaker. He will discuss the issue of radon in Cache Valley homes and its connection to our high rates of lung cancer.   

Wallace Akerley, MD, is a professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Utah - School of Medicine, and the Senior Director of Community Oncology Research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) - Salt Lake City. He is Co-Director of the HCI Thoracic Cancer Program, and member of the HCI Experimental Therapeutics Program. Dr. Akerley is American Board of Internal Medicine certified (Hematology and Medical Oncology) - and National Board of Medical Examiners certified.

Dr. Akerley treats patients with many types of cancer, focusing on lung cancer and melanoma. He participates on the lung cancer committees of two national organizations for cancer treatment: Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Akerley joined Huntsman Cancer Institute in 2002. He was previously Director of Medical Oncology and Assoc. Director of the Boston Univ. Cancer Center.

Dr. Akerley received his M.D. at Brown University - Rhode Island, completed his residency at the University of Southern California (USC), and served fellowships at USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center - and at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center - Dartmouth College - New Hampshire.

Dr. Akerley is the leading Utah physician/scientist treating radon-induced lung cancer patients. He is a very engaging motivational speaker who believes that over 100 people/year in Utah (including many otherwise very healthy young adults) are needlessly dying from lung cancer caused by radon. In view of a religious culture that discourages smoking, Dr. Akerley is interested in why Utah’s lung cancer rate is not decreasing like it is other states.

Dr. Akerley notes that many houses in Utah have radon levels the equivalent of a person smoking one or two packs of cigarettes a day. [This includes homes in Cache Co. where approx. 53% (among the highest in Utah) of the 2,207 dwellings tested for radon have (or have had) dangerous radon levels.]

Radioactive radon gas is the leading cause of lung cancer (after smoking) - killing approx. 21,000 people in the U.S. each year. Dr. Akerley has a passion for preventing this cancer – and states it is one of the few cancers almost 100% preventable.

Dr. Akerley will also present on his genetic research regarding this cancer (thanks in part to the unique circumstances in Utah of substantial genealogical databases, large families and healthy lifestyles).

Because he is such a good speaker – Dr. Akerley’s serious message is also entertaining. He is excellent at taking - answering questions in layman’s terms.