US-based Cancer Expert Heads to Johannesburg for Healthcare Innovation Summit

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Jul 22, 2015, 02:00 ET

JOHANNESBURG, July 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

By Darryl Linington  
 
Dr. Imoh Okon, an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, Atlanta USA has confirmed his participation at the upcoming African Innovator Round Tables: Healthcare Innovation Summit.

At the Summit, Dr. Imoh Okon will be discussing the topic: "On the cutting edge: Innovation & Technology in Cancer Care."
The Summit will be held on 19 August 2015 at the Protea Fire & Ice Hotel in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg under the theme - "Transforming Healthcare with Technology."

Dr. Imoh Okon's primary research area in oncology has covered ovarian, endometrial, breast and lung cancers, with particular focus on the events that drive malignant cell transformations.
His unique areas of expertise include novel, and emerging technologies in cancer detection, diagnoses and treatments which are coordinated efforts to bring cure and improve treatments to patients. Dr. Okon's research team has expanded into areas of cardio-metabolic conditions, such as obesity, and diabetes.

A major connection to these disease conditions include metabolic alterations which represent a strong link between obesity and cancer. Dr. Okon has spoken at several scientific and industry conferences, and published peer-reviewed research articles in prominent journals. He is a leading voice in the Emerging Leaders Network (ELN) in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Okon holds a degree in biochemistry, masters' in medical biotechnology from the University of Westminster, London, and a doctorate degree in Oncology from the world-renowned Imperial College London. He is author of the book "Winning the Fight Against CANCER: a Layman's Guide".

Dr. Imoh Ikon is credited with developing a ground-breaking cancer diagnostic "drug-resistance" test kit.

The kit is based on sensitive measurements of certain biomarkers that strongly associate with cellular processes that become perturbed during the onset of drug resistance. Prior to this innovation, doctors have had no way of predicting the onset of drug resistance, and hence could not make informed decisions with respect to appropriate treatments for patients.

Dr. Okon has worked in the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom, and possess extensive healthcare, academic and research experiences from the UK and USA. His research has won several awards in the USA, and his "expert opinion" in the healthcare and technology sectors have been published in newspapers, with interviews on TV and radio. Dr. Okon is passionate about applications of emerging technologies across pathological conditions, with strong potential of innovations and interventions that will save lives.

About the Healthcare Innovation Summit:

Rising costs, changing demographics and growing consumer expectations are changing healthcare. Providers and payers are seeking better quality care and improved outcomes whilst striving for much more efficient models of delivery.
These pressures for transformation are changing the status of IT in healthcare as it facilitates an information revolution in healthcare. Increasingly, technology is being used more collaboratively to support and drive substantial cultural and strategic change and provide the infrastructure, processes and tools to support this.

This African Innovator Roundtable on Innovation in Healthcare has been developed to provide critical input for stakeholders in healthcare, providing objective, timely, evaluation of the different healthcare challenges and applications, and solutions for tackling them.

Topics to be discussed at the Healthcare Innovation Summit include:
    •    The future of medicine: healing hands or robotic arms?
    •    Telemedicine as a model for healthcare service delivery: Is Africa ready for "care at a distance"?
    •    Protecting pharmaceutical intellectual property rights in Africa.
    •    Towards universal health coverage with mobile money.
    •    Bringing Technology Innovation to Cancer Treatment and Delivery.
    •    On the cutting edge: Innovation & Technology in Cancer Care.
    •    Data analysis and business intelligence for healthcare resource planning.
    •    POPI: The impact on Healthcare.