Rural Health and Cancer Conference

The Rural Health and Cancer Conference aims to improve rural cancer outcomes by convening a wide-array of experts from across the nation in rural cancer healthcare delivery and building cross-disciplinary collaborations amongst rural cancer health experts.

Rural Health and Cancer Conference 2025 Poster

�պ�� Cancer Center is pleased to announce the inaugural Rural Health and Cancer Conference to be held June 19-21, 2025, in Burlington, Vermont.

2025 Conference Information

Conference Registration

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Registration for the 2025 Inaugural Rural Health and Cancer Conference is now open! The deadlines for early, standard, and late registration and corresponding costs are listed below.

Trainees interested in a travel award should not complete registration for the conference until receiving a status update regarding your travel award application.

Registration Includes:

Welcome reception with keynote address on the evening of June 19th
Full access to all conference sessions
Meals throughout the conference
Lake Champlain dinner cruise aboard the on the evening of June 20th.

	Early Registration (Through April 7^th)	Standard Registration (Through May 11^th)	Late Registration (Through May 25^th)
Faculty, Clinician, Nurse, Other	$200	$250	$300
Trainee	$100	$150	$200

Early Registration

(Through April 7^th)

Standard Registration

(Through May 11^th)

Late Registration

(Through May 25^th)

Faculty, Clinician, Nurse, Other

$200

$250

$300

Trainee

$100

$150

$200

Conference Agenda

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A detailed PDF Version of the 2025 Rural Health and Cancer Conference Agenda is available below.

Thursday June 19, 2025
Time	Description	Location
5:00 – 6:00 PM	Opening Reception Keynote Sharon Lavigne Founder – RISE St. James	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
6:00 – 7:00 PM	Networking Reception with Hors d’oeuvres	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
Friday June 20, 2025
7:30 - 8:30 AM	Networking Breakfast	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
8:30 – 8:45 AM	Welcome Randall Holcombe, MD Director of �պ�� Cancer Center Richard Page, MD Dean, Larner College of Medicine	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
8:45 – 9:45 AM	Keynote Marquita Lewis-Thames, PhD Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Engagement, Assistant Professor, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
9:45 – 10:00 AM	Coffee/Tea Break	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
10:00 – 11:15 AM	Session 1 Addressing Challenges in Rural Cancer Care Rodney Haring, PhD, MSW Chair of the Department of Indigenous Cancer Health at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center 2 invited speakers chosen from abstract submission	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
11:15 AM – 12:30 PM	Session 2 Novel Approaches to Increase Rural Cancer Health Outcomes Izumi Okado, PhD Assistant Professor, University of Hawai’i Cancer Center 2 invited speakers chosen from abstract submission	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
12:30 – 1:30 PM	Networking Lunch	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
1:30 – 2:30 PM	Lightning Talks	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
2:30 – 3:30 PM	Rural Cancer Patient/Caregiver Panel	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
3:30 – 3:45 PM	Coffee/Tea Break	Hotel Champlain
3:45 – 5:00 PM	Session 3 Increasing Screening/Prevention Services & Uptake in Rural Communities Aimee James, PhD, MPH, MA Professor, Washington University in St. Louis 2 invited speakers chosen from abstract submission	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
6:30 -9:00 PM	Dinner Networking Dinner Cruise on Lake Champlain – Sponsored by the �պ�� Cancer Center	Spirit of Ethan Allen Burlington, VT
Saturday June 21, 2025
7:30 – 8:30 AM	Networking Breakfast	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
8:30 – 8:45 AM	Friday Recap and Announcements	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
8:45 – 9:45 AM	Policy Plenary Session Representative from Health Research Services Administration (HRSA) 2 additional panelists will be invited representing public health policy coalitions and/or programs that have successfully advocated for state policy reform.	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
9:45 – 10:00 AM	Coffee/Tea Break	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
10:00 – 11:15 AM	Session 4 Survivorship in Rural Communities Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, PhD, RD Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham 2 invited speakers chosen from abstract submission	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT
11:15 – 11:30 AM	Conclusion	Hotel Champlain Burlington, VT

Abstract Submission

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A limited number of session and lightning talks will be selected from abstract submission. Session talks must fit one of the session themes and will be 15-minutes long. Lightning talks do not have to fit a specific theme and will be 3-minutes in length.

Abstracts are due March 21, 2025.

Trainee Travel Awards

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The �պ�� Cancer Center is dedicated to supporting trainee career development. In alignment with this dedication, the Rural Health and Cancer Conference is pleased to offer competitive travel awards for trainees. Trainees include University students (undergraduate, medical, graduate), postdoctoral associates, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and clinical fellows. To be eligible for a travel award trainees must submit an abstract. An internal review committee will review abstracts for travel award consideration. Trainees interested in a travel award should not complete registration for the conference until receiving a status update regarding your application.

Lodging

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A limited number of guest rooms are reserved at Hotel Champlain at a discounted rate of $289 per night. Click to book through our group reservation page. *Room rate does not include fees or applicable taxes.

Additional hotels within walking distance of the conference venue include , , and .

Open Positions in Rural Cancer Health Services

Rural Health Services Cancer Research and Policy Faculty Position

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The �պ�� Cancer Center and the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine in the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at �պ�� seeks a full-time, tenure track pathway faculty member at the Associate or Full Professor level in rural health services cancer research and policy.

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