ACOG President Eva Chalas kicks off Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting

This article includes information presented at the 2021 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting (ACSM), being held from April 30 to May 2.

Chalas’ discussion points on preventive care include cardiovascular disease, pre-pregnancy counseling, diabetes, obesity, modified cancer risk factors, and genetic cancer risk factors. “Our encounter with women across their lifespan helps identify risk for future illness,” Chalas said. Her presentation included the roadmap to a new practice, which included 2011 Institute of Medicine recommendations that annual visits should serve as a focus on evidence-based, age-appropriate preventive care. Additional visits should be conducted based on patient’s health status and risk factors. She added that every encounter should serve as a focus on preventive care and mitigation of personal risk factors for disease.

Chalas then handed over the presentation to 2 experts in the field of preventive medicine, each of whom gave their own 20-minute presentation.

Janine A. Clayton, MD, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health, and Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, spoke about keeping women healthy across their lifespan. She focused on America’s health disparities and high maternal mortality rates. “This audience is aware that this country is the most dangerous place in the world to deliver a baby,” Clayton said, “and the Office of Research on Women’s Health issued a call to action in 2019 among our research community to focus on these areas. America’s health disparities and maternal mortality rates are unacceptable.” Visit the NIH Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Web Portal for more information.

The other speaker was Douglas R. Lowy, MD, the Principal Deputy Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). His 2 main research areas focus on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and cancer genes. His joint research with John Schiller, MD, has developed technology underlying FDA-approved HPV vaccines and mechanisms for high efficacy of the vaccines. Lowy also has received the National Medal of Honor for basic research from the American Cancer Society and is a fellow of the American Association for Cancer Research academy. Lowy’s presentation focused on reducing HPV-associated cancer by vaccinations and screening. “Patient care is really at the heart of everything that we are trying to do at the NIH,” Lowy said.

For more ACOG coverage, stay tuned to Contemporary OB/GYN®. To explore conference proceedings and to register, visit www.acog.org.