The Breast Cancer Alliance will raise a flag at Greenwich Town Hall on Thursday, Oct. 1, to open Breast Cancer Awareness Month, capping a week that saw First Selectman Fred Camillo honor one of the town's leading breast surgeons.
Camillo proclaimed Tuesday, Sept. 29, as Dr. Barbara A. Ward Day in Greenwich. The proclamation recognized Ward at the Benefit for Greenwich Hospital.
Ward, chair of surgery at Greenwich Hospital and medical director of its Breast Center, has spent more than three decades in surgical oncology. She co-founded the Breast Center in 2000 and built it into a pilot site for the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Before joining Greenwich Hospital, Ward directed the Yale Comprehensive Breast Care Center. She completed her residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, where she served as chief resident. She then trained at the National Cancer Institute.
In December 2021, Greenwich Hospital appointed Ward as the first woman to serve as chair of surgery. Greenwich Hospital president Diane Kelly said at the time that Ward's "decades of leadership, advocacy and experience as a renowned breast surgeon will enhance our ability to offer surgical patients the best possible outcomes in a safe and supportive setting."
Ward holds a medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine and is an associate professor of surgery in oncology at Yale School of Medicine. She has first-authored or co-authored more than 45 peer-reviewed papers and has received Greenwich Hospital's President's Award and the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce Women Who Matter Award.
Ward also serves as a medical advisor for the Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA), the Greenwich-based nonprofit marking its 30th anniversary this year. Five friends started the organization around a kitchen table in 1996 to help a friend battling breast cancer. BCA has since awarded more than $40 million in grants for research, surgical training and screening, according to a profile in The Purist.
"We've accomplished so much in our first 30 years, but there's still much more to do," BCA president Lori Kron said in the September profile.
Upcoming community events:
- Thursday, Oct. 1: Breast Cancer Alliance flag-raising ceremony at Greenwich Town Hall, 101 Field Point Rd., 9 a.m. Camillo is scheduled to attend.
- Thursday, Oct. 1: Free BCA symposium, "The Next Chapter. Life After Breast Cancer. Finding Your New Normal," 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Kron will moderate. RSVP at breastcanceralliance.org/bca-flag-raising-symposium.
