Aflac CEO Funds Breast Cancer Symposium in Honor of Company's African-American Female...( Dan and Kathelen Amos Donate $5000...),Health

Dan and Kathelen Amos Donate $50,000 to Emory Winship Cancer Institute

ATLANTA, May 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Dan and Kathelen Amos today announced a personal commitment of $50,000 to the Emory Winship Cancer Institute to host the first scientific symposium in the southeast focused on triple-negative breast cancer research. Dan Amos, Aflac chairman and CEO and Kathelen Amos, Aflac Foundation president, made the personal donation in honor of the company's African-American female employees who make up nearly 30 percent of the workforce. The symposium will be held on May 16 beginning at 7 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt in Atlanta.

"After being made aware of the disproportionate impact of this disease on young African American women, Dan and I immediately felt led to become involved," said Kathelen Amos. "This is highly personal for us, not solely out of professional regard for the key roles African American women play in the leadership at Aflac, but also out of a heightened concern for those we hold dear."

The inaugural Jean Sindab Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Symposium is designed to update oncologists and other healthcare professionals on the most current advances in triple-negative breast cancer, a fast-moving disease that is resistant to new targeted therapies and strikes African-American women more often than white women. In a recent population study, Emory researchers found that almost 47 percent of breast cancers in African-American women under the age of 55 were triple-negative.

"We are immensely grateful for Kathelen and Dan Amos' support, which allows Emory Winship Cancer Institute to bring together the nation's top researchers focused on triple-negative breast cancer," said Brian Leyland- Jones, MD, PhD, Executive Director of Emory Winship. "Kathelen and Dan Amos are among only a handful of private philanthropists in the nation who recognize the need for focused attention on this lesser known form of breast cancer."

The symposium w
'/>"/>