{"id":240452,"date":"2026-01-27T15:51:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=240452"},"modified":"2026-01-27T15:51:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T20:51:02","slug":"cancer-awareness-takes-the-court-at-coaches-vs-cancer-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/01\/cancer-awareness-takes-the-court-at-coaches-vs-cancer-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Cancer Awareness Takes the Court at Coaches vs. Cancer Game"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a Saturday afternoon when the focus was on fast breaks and three-pointers, cancer awareness quietly took center stage.<\/p>\n

As thousands of fans filled the People\u2019s Bank Arena in Hartford on Saturday, January 24 to watch the UConn men\u2019s basketball team take on Villanova for an exciting overtime win, few arrived expecting to think about their own health. But thanks to UConn Health\u2019s continued partnership with UConn Athletics, the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game once again transformed a Huskies matchup into an opportunity for education, connection, and potentially life-saving conversations.<\/p>\n

\"a
Jose Narvaez, UConn Health Imaging, Rosa Agosto and Dr. Sunny Mitchell, UConn Heath share information on breast cancer screenings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Throughout the afternoon, doctors and outreach staff from the UConn Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center engaged with fans throughout the arena. Inside the concourse, experts answered questions and shared information about breast, lung, colon, and blood cancers, helping attendees understand screening guidelines and determine appropriate next steps for care. Fans were able to scan a Fast Pass QR Code to get direct access to scheduling screenings.<\/p>\n

\"3
Mirsa Claudio, Dr. Vanessa Scanlon, Andrea Moran, Dr. Zach Sawyer and Dr. Kapil Meleveedu share information on blood cancers and transplant options.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New this year, members of UConn Health\u2019s bone marrow transplant (BMT) team were on site, offering education about blood cancers, transplant options, and the importance of early diagnosis bringing awareness of highly specialized, life-saving care directly into a community setting.<\/p>\n

Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide initiative that unites basketball coaches, teams, and fans in the fight against cancer, with a mission centered on education, prevention, and fundraising. For UConn Health, the game provides a powerful platform to meet people where they already are outside traditional clinical settings and lower barriers to learning about cancer care.<\/p>\n

\"Two
Dr. Ethan Bernstein, Dr. Omar Ibrahim, Dr. Electra Kaloudis, and Lisa Petricca, PA raised awareness of lung cancer screening.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about medicine it\u2019s about access,\u201d says Dr. Omar Ibrahim, service chief, Cancer Center. \u201cWhen you bring health care into community spaces like this, you create opportunities for conversations that might not happen otherwise and those moments matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the many conversations throughout the afternoon were deeply personal stories, as patients stopped by to share how early detection led to timely treatment and remission reinforcing why awareness and access to screening opportunities matter. Moments like these underscored the idea that even a single conversation can have a life-changing impact.<\/p>\n

\"two
Jessica Santos-Martinez and Dr. Ana Acuna-Villaorduna reached fans with colon cancer screening information.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEducation and early detection remain some of the most powerful tools we have,\u201d says Kim Hamilton, program coordinator for Community Outreach and Engagement at the Cancer Center. \u201cBy raising awareness and connecting people to care, we can make a meaningful impact well beyond the walls of the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before tipoff, fans also stopped by a table hosted by Andrea Hurley, wife of head coach Dan Hurley, who created memorial buttons honoring loved ones impacted by cancer offering a space for reflection amid the excitement of game day.<\/p>\n

\"a
Fast Past to screenings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Community Outreach and Engagement team was thrilled to once again be part of this event,\u201d says Julie Dudek, academic administrative manager at the Cancer Center. \u201cHundreds of fans stopped by to learn more, ask questions, and connect with our teams. We\u2019re proud to support UConn Athletics as the official health care provider of the Huskies.\u201d<\/p>\n

From concourse conversations to moments in the stands where a fan\u2019s wore UConn Health t-shirts displaying the UConn Husky alongside the words Official Health Care Provider of UConn Athletics<\/em> the message resonated clearly: cancer awareness doesn\u2019t stop at hospital doors.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it starts with a basketball game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UConn’s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center partnered with UConn Athletics during the Coaches vs. Cancer game to bring cancer education and screening resources directly to fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":240459,"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":[1712,2230,1715,2231,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2209],"class_list":["post-240452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-cancer","category-community-impact","category-health-well-being","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 18:06:45","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\/240452","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=240452"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240463,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240452\/revisions\/240463"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/240459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240452"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=240452"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=240452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}