{"id":224754,"date":"2025-01-30T15:06:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T20:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=224754"},"modified":"2025-09-22T14:42:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T18:42:39","slug":"uconn-cancer-center-provides-free-screenings-at-uconn-huskies-coaches-vs-cancer-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/01\/uconn-cancer-center-provides-free-screenings-at-uconn-huskies-coaches-vs-cancer-game\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Cancer Center Provides Free Screenings at UConn Huskies Coaches vs. Cancer Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine discovering cancer early\u2014potentially saving your life\u2014simply because you attended a basketball game where cancer screenings were offered.<\/p>\n

That would be an incredible story a powerful reminder of how important outreach events can be. Early cancer detection dramatically improves survival rates, and offering screenings in unexpected but accessible places, like a sports arena, breaks down barriers for people who might not otherwise seek care.<\/p>\n

\"Lauren
Lauren Rondinone, Dr. John Birk, Stephanie McGinn, Allison Rinaldi, Jillian Fal from gastroenterology.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Wednesday, January 29, as thousands of UConn Huskies fans filed into the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut to watch the men\u2019s basketball team take on DePaul, they probably weren\u2019t thinking about cancer. However, as the official healthcare provider of UConn Athletics, UConn Health teamed up for the annual Coaches for Cancer game to provide fans with free education and access to cancer screenings.<\/p>\n

Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide initiative that empowers basketball coaches, their teams and their local communities to make a difference in the fight against cancer. The main goal is to increase cancer awareness, promote healthy living, and fundraise through activities.<\/p>\n

\"Jessica
Jessica Santos-Martinez, Rosa Agosto and Maggie Donohue helped fans navigate questions about breast cancer and mammograms<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about the medical aspect; it\u2019s about meeting people where they are and creating opportunities for proactive health care. This kind of initiative combines community engagement with life-saving interventions\u2014it\u2019s a win for all,\u201d says Omar Ibrahim, director of Interventional Pulmonary at UConn Health.<\/p>\n

Before the doors opened at 6:30 p.m., where fans would find Andrea Hurley, wife of head coach Dan Hurley, creating memorial buttons to wear during the game, doctors, medical students, and residents from UConn Dermatology and the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at UConn Health (Cancer Center) offered skin cancer screenings in the XL Center Atrium.<\/p>\n

Once in the arena, doctors and medical professionals were on hand to provide information about colon, lung and breast cancer while determining the need for potential screenings.\u00a0 Fans were encouraged prior to and during the game to take the opportunity to learn more about cancer prevention and protecting their health.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Philip Kerr, Seda Gul Sahin, James Mackenzie, Tim Klufas, Aziz Khan, Sueheidi Santiago, Tannaz Sedghi, Sonal Muzumdar, Lauren Skudalski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Regular cancer screenings are crucial for early detection, significantly increasing the chances of successful treatment and survival by identifying cancers before they develop symptoms, allowing for timely intervention and potentially life-saving care,\u201d says Kim Hamilton, program coordinator, Community Outreach and Engagement at the Cancer Center.<\/p>\n

\"AKateri of Southbury emphasized the importance of events like this in raising awareness, sharing that early detection allowed her to receive treatment and reach one year in remission. \u201cAfter my diagnosis, I made it my mission to spread awareness\u2014that\u2019s why events like this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Community Outreach and Engagement team at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center was thrilled to join Andrea Hurley\u2019s cancer screening initiative at the Coaches vs. Cancer game. Hundreds of fans and staff stopped by for information and to schedule screenings for skin, lung, breast, and colon cancer. We\u2019re proud to be the official healthcare provider of the UConn Huskies,\u201d said Julie Dudek, academic administrative manager, Cancer Center.\"little<\/p>\n

\u201cUConn Health\u2019s Cancer Center was excited to partner with UConn Athletics and Andrea Hurley to provide cancer screening education and skin cancer checks at the American Cancer Society Coaches\u00a0vs Cancer game. We look forward to continuing this partnership with Mrs. Hurley and at other UConn Athletics sporting events,\u201d says Hamilton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the official healthcare provider of UConn Athletics, UConn Health played a vital role in the UConn Huskies annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, offering fans free cancer screenings and essential health information. This initiative helped raise awareness, promote early detection, and connect the community with life-saving resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":224756,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2230,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2209],"class_list":["post-224754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cancer","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 15:08:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224754"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235645,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224754\/revisions\/235645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/224756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224754"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=224754"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=224754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}