Inflated awareness

By Rachel Rivera

The UF Health Shands Hospital Atrium was dressed in blue for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March — but the cherry on top was a giant inflatable colon that filled up more than half of the atrium. Participants walked through the colon to learn about the various stages of colon cancer and ways to prevent the disease. Fellows and staff, including Oforbuike Ewelukwa, M.D. (left), and Adam Weinberg, M.D. — both advanced endoscopy fellows in the UF College of Medicine’s division of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, part of the department of medicine — were at the end of the colon to help raise awareness for colon cancer and the importance of regular colonoscopy screenings. According to the American Cancer Society, about 136,830 people were predicted to have been diagnosed with the disease in 2014, and about 50,310 were predicted to have died of the disease. — Rachel Rivera