Health-care reform, stem cell research, chronic diseases and end-of-life care are among the topics to be discussed tonight, Dec. 9th, at a forum hosted by The Hasting Center, a bioethics research center in Garrison.

“Post Election: A Bioethics Agenda for a New Era,” will feature a panel of the center’s research scholars talking about these timely issues and how they relate to a new presidential administration.

The talk is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, call Tina Settembrino at 845-424-4040 or at settembrino@thehastingscenter.org.

The Hastings Center is located on Route 9D in Garrison, between St. Basil’s Academy and the Philipstown Park.

Two researchers with the New York State Health Department and an oncologist with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston will examine the quality of breast and colorectal cancer care in New York to try to identify ways to improve care.

Funded by a two-year $500,000 grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the Association of Schools of Public Health, the research project will allow the most comprehensive examination of the quality of breast and colorectal cancer care to date by linking information from four data sources: the New York State Cancer Registry, the New York State Medicaid program, federal Medicare claims data, and the New York State Hospital Discharge-Ambulatory Surgery (SPARCS) data system.

Researchers will evaluate breast and colorectal cancer care among New Yorkers using 23 quality of care measures that are considered best practices.  One quality measure is whether a patient received radiation following breast-conserving cancer surgery, such as a lumpectomy. The measures were developed by national organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American College of Surgeons.

Nyack Hospital will hold its fourth annual trauma conference later this week. The conference will cover numerous topics involving emergency medical care, including  assessment, triage, transportation, shock, wound care, plastic surgery, tissue transplantation, advanced burn care and post-mortem criminal examination.

Experts from the FBI, Albany Medical Center, Westchester Medical Center, Rockland County Medical Examiner’s office, Hudson Valley Donor Network and Nyack Hospital Trauma Services will speak at the conference.

It will take place Dec. 6 and Dec. 7 at Nyack Hospital. For information contact Walter Dusseldorp at 845-348-3061.