On August 17, the Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) participated in the Black Health Matters Summit in Harlem, New York City. The event took place from 9 AM to 3 PM EST. PHEN’s Program Coordinator Jerry George represented the organization at the event, acting as a partner exhibitor to the pharmaceutical company Janssen. 

The event held multiple speaking sessions and presentations as well as 14 exhibitors including the Promise Registry, Janssen, and Mount Sinai. Further, thanks to the Mount Sinai group, men at the event had access to free PSA screening tests.

Ms. Roslyn Young-Daniels, President and Founder of Black Health Matters, and Mr. Winston Majette, Executive Director and Board Member of The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and Harlem Week, Inc., both hosted the event. Dr. Ashwin Vasan, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Dr. Mandy Cohen, recently appointed Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were present during the Black Health Matters Summit as well.

The summit had strong attendance numbers with 530 individuals attending the presentations and viewing the exhibitions in person and more than 200 attending virtually. As many as 50 attendees came up to the PHEN exhibit to collect pamphlets and flyers. These materials outlined the many different programs that PHEN conducts as well as the benefits of PHEN online portals for prostate cancer patients (PHENPath.com, PHENPSA.com, and PHENTrials.com). 

Many who came to the PHEN booth had glowing encouragements to say, emphasizing how important PHEN is for the Black community in getting the word out about prostate cancer awareness. Further, one woman explained how her friend was diagnosed with prostate cancer and would have benefited from PHEN educational programs when he went through his cancer journey.